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LOWELL 


Compliments  of 

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THE 


LOWELL  BOOK 


BOSTON 

GEORGE  H.  ELLIS,  PRINTER,  272  CONGRESS  STREET 

1899 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Historic  Points  and  By-ways Sara  S.  Griffin  $ 

An  Early  Deed lo 

Geology  of  Lowell Harriette  Rea  1 1 

Genesis  of  Social  System  in  New  England  Manufacturing, 

Rodney  Field  Hemenway  1 3 

Rogers  Hall George  F.  Richardson  15 

The  Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association Frederick  Lazvion  17 

The  Public  Schools Albert  L.  Bacheller  19 

The  Old  Middlesex  Canal Mabel  Hill  21 

Merrimack  River Jane  Eruiina  Locke  23 

Lowell  Waterways James  Bayles  24 

Old  Dracut  and  Some  Historic  Houses Mary  E.  Wight  25 

St.  Anne's  Church J.  S.  Russell  29 

Military  Organizations Greenleaf  C.  Brock  30 

The  First  Unitarian  Church Rev.  Charles  T.  Billings  33 

The  Ministry-at-Large G.  C.  W.  36 

Philanthropic  Institutions  of  Lowell Mary  H.  C.  Rogers  37 

The  Public  Library Frederick  A.  Chase  41 

Artists  of  Lowell Adelaide  Baker  42 

Women's  Clubs  in  Lowell Helen  A.  Whittier  45 

Patriotic  Organizations Philip  S.  Marden  47 

The  Old  Residents'  Historical  Association Solon  W.  Stevens  49 

Volunteer  Aid  Associations Thomas  F.  Harrington,  M.D.  51 

The  State  Normal  School  in  Lowell Kate  Gannett  Wells  53 

The  Lowell  Textile  School James  T.  Smith  54 

The  Lowell  Board  of  Trade  and  its  Work      ....      Charles  E.  Adams  55 

Editorial E.lla  P.  Judkins  56 


HISTORIC  POINTS  AND  BY-WAYS. 


I3S?^HE  spot  on  which  the  city  of   Lowell  now  stands  is  not  without  historic 
interest;    the    wigwams    of   Indians  or  the   scattered   homes   of   the  early 


dustries  or  spacious  streets  and  residences.  We  must  not  think  of  this 
charming  place  as  once  a  solitude ;  for  our  beautiful  streams  have  ever  mirrored  human 
forms  that  glided  softly  along  their  banks,  and  human  voices  have  ever  mingled  with  their 
waterfalls. 

Carlyle  has  said,  "  We  cannot  study,  however  imperfectly,  a  great  man  without  gain- 
ing something  by  him."  So  perhaps  a  few  lessons  may  be  gained  by  treading  for  a  brief 
space  in  the  nearly  obliterated  footsteps  of  some  of  the  earlier  white  settlers  in  Lowell; 
and,  with  the  "Old  Highway  to  the  Merrimack"  as  a  starting-point,  let  us  make  in  fancy 
the  circuit  of  our  city,  brushing  cobwebs  from  old  forgotten  doorways  and  wreathing 
thereon  garlands  of  fragrant  memories. 

In  1659  we  find  the  term  "  Highway  to  the  Merrimack  "  first  mentioned  in  certain 
old  Chelmsford  deeds.  It  was  no  doubt  the  old  road  to  Golden  Cove,  but  the  Lowell 
end  is  now  called  Stedman  Street.  Originally,  the  old  road  turned  down  by  Mt.  Pleasant 
Spring ;  but  later  it  was  straightened  out  through  Stedman  and  Baldwin  Streets  to  the 
river.  About  1655  we  find  the  first  record  of  any  English  inhabitants  of  what  is  now 
the  city  of  Lowell,  seven  or  eight  families  having  settled  in  this  vicinity,  attracted  to  the 
spot  by  its  proximity  to  the  river  and  the  fact  that  land  had  been  cleared  here  by  the 
Indians.  Rude  as  were  the  surroundings  of  these  first  settlers  and  adverse  as  were 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  labored,  they  yet  found  time  to  remember  "the 
beginnings  of  wisdom,"  for  as  early  as  1699  we  find  that  the  wife  of  John  Wright,  living 
in  this  neighborhood,  was  authorized  to  hold  at  her  house  a  "  dame  school,"  to  "  learne 
young  persons  to  Reed  and  write." 

A  short  distance  from  the  "  Old  Highway,"  on  what  is  now  called  Wood  Street,  is 
the  Sewall  Bowers  house,  which  is  doubtless  the  oldest  building  in  our  city.  The  farm 
has  been  in  possession  of  the  Bowers  family  since  the  first  settlement  of  Chelmsford, 
and  is  mentioned  in  the  old  records  as  having  been  a  rendezvous  for  the  early  settlers  in 
times  of  danger,  and  for  neighborly  conference.  Also,  as  early  as  1686  a  "still"  was 
licensed  at  this  place  for  the  manufacture  of  "strong-waters"  that  "may  be  sold  to 
Christians,  but  not  to  Indians."  Perhaps  the  many  ancient  footpaths  that  can  be  traced 
to  the  old  Bowers  house  are  due  to  the  kindly  wish  of  our  forefathers  to  preserve  the 
Indians  from  the  baneful  influence  of  the  "strong-waters." 

Opposite  the  foot  of  Wood  Street,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  was  erected  in  1675,  by 
Major  Hinchman,  a  "Garrison  House,"  which  was  used  as  a  place  of  safety  for  the 
families  in  this  section  during  King  Philip's  War  and  the  later  skirmishes  with  the 
Indians.  Not  a  trace  is  left  of  the  old  log  structure ;  but  memory  still  retains  the  story 
of  how  the  neighboring  farmers,  with  their  wives  and  little  ones,  hastened  to  the  old 
house  for  shelter,  when   rumors  of  the  attacks  of  the  Indians  in  the  adjoining  towns 


The  LowcU  Book 


v^ir'fe^ 


filled  their  hearts  with  horror  and  dismay.     Remains  of  an  old  well  have  been  found 
near  this  site,  and  tradition  connects  them  with  the  old  "  Garrison  House." 

Farther  down  on  the  bank  of  the  Merrimack,  with  its  grounds  gently  sloping  to  the 
river's  edge,  stands  what  is  called  to-day  the  "  Middlesex  Hotel,"  but  in  the  early  Colonial 
days  bore  the  title  of  "Clark's  Tavern."  We  may  aptly  borrow  Longfellow's  lines  to 
describe  this  once  famous  place  of  entertainment  :  — 

"  As  ancient  is  this  hostelry 
As  any  in  the  land  may  be ! 
Built  in  the  old  Colonial  day 
When  men  lived  in  a  grander  way 
With  ampler  hospitality." 

This  tavern  was  near  Clark's  Ferry,  and  was  a  popular  resort  for  the  fashionable 
and  distinguished  people  of  the  day.     The  equipages  of  Lowell's  wealthiest  families  at 

the  present  time  cannot  compare 
in  grandeur  with  the  carriages 
with  armorial  bearings  which 
rolled  up  to  that  hospitable  door 
in  the  old  Colonial  days.  Among 
its  guests  have  been  the  Han- 
cocks and  scores  of  other  notabil- 
ities, and  the  brilliancy  of  the  din- 
ner parties  given  within  its  walls 
in  the  days  of  its  early  grandeur 
can  hardly  be  excelled,  even  in 
the  luxury  of  this  generation. 

Near  "  Clark's  Tavern  "  was 
the  head  of  the  "  Old  Middlesex 
Canal."  For  its  time  this  enter- 
prise was  a  wonderful  feat  of  en- 
gineering, and  was  the  first  canal 
in  the  United  States  opened  for 
the  transportation  of  travellers. 
Not  far  from  the  head  of  the  canal  the  "  Old  Highway  "  touches  Middlesex  Street, 
and  on  it  is  found  all  that  is  left  of  the  once  famous  Chelmsford  Glass  Works.  These 
works  were  established  here  in  1802  by  Boston  parties,  and  at  one  time  made  a  prominent 
industry  in  the  little  town  of  Chelmsford ;  but  now  not  a  vestige  remains  of  the  dismal 
old  wooden  factory,  black  with  the  smoke  of  the  big  furnaces.  Two  of  the  tenement 
houses  are  still  standing  that  were  built  by  the  glass  company,  and  they  cause  one  to 
think  of  unhappy  ghosts  doomed  to  haunt  the  scene  of  their  former  prosperity. 

On  another  old  road  now  known  as  Pine  Street  is  seen  the  Henry  Parker  house, 
opposite  the  Highland  School.  No  other  family  but  the  Parkers  have  been  in  posses- 
sion of  this  estate  since  the  Indians  sold  their  claim  to  Wamesit,  yet  it  is  impossible  to 
decide  when  the  first  Parker  set  up  his  home  on  the  present  attractive  site.  But  one 
Benjamin  Parker,  the  record  of  whose  birth  is  given  as  1663,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  first  member  of  the  family  to  locate  here.     In  the  early  Indian  struggles  and  also  in 


1511  '* 


Old  Glass  House. 


THE  SPALDING  H0U5E.  FORMERLY  OLD  MARSHALL  TAVERN 
ON  PARKER.  5T 


5PALD1NG  H0ME5TEAD  ON  PAWTUCKET  ^1 


A  VlLlV    ^[:    .  ,:^ 

OLD  HIGHWAY 


Old   Staircase. —  Taken  trom  the  home  of  William  Merchant,  a  participant  in  the  Boston  Massacre. 

Now  in  a  Lowell  House. 


Historic  Points  and  By-ways  7 

the  Revolutionary  War,  young  men  have  gone  forth  from  this  homestead  to  perform  their 
part  with  valor  and  bravery. 

Following  the  old  lane  over  which  childish  feet  passed  and  repassed  so  many  years 
ago  to  the  little  red  school-house  that  stood  near  what  is  now  the  corner  of  School  and 
Westford  Streets,  we  cannot  but  contrast  our  palatial  school-houses  of  to-day  with  their 
very  obscure  and  humble  parentage;  for  the  little  school-house  that  stood  here  in  1767 
was  the  first  school  building  erected  in  what  is  now  Lowell.  One  of  the  pupils  in  the 
school  was  Benjamin  Pierce,  afterward  Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  father  of 
Franklin  Pierce,  President  of  the  United  States. 

School  Street,  which  takes  its  name  from  this  "ancient  seat  of  learning,"  winds  along 
by  the  old  cemetery,  over  the  hill  to  Pawtucket  Street,  near  what  was  once  the  residence 
of  Captain  Ford,  famous  in  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  and  which  is  still  occupied  by  the 
descendants  of  his  family.  When  the  alarm  gun  sounded,  April  19,  1775,  Captain  Ford 
was  at  work  in  his  saw-mill,  which  was  near  his  home.  Hastening  to  his  house  for  the 
necessary  equipments,  he  started  at  once  for  the  centre  of  the  town,  to  join  the  company 
that  went  from  there.  The  point  in  Chelmsford  Centre  from  which  the  little  party  so 
fearlessly  marched  that  day  has  been  recently  marked  with  a  bowlder  by  the  Molly  Var- 
num  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  Captain  Ford  also  served  at 
Bunker  Hill,  Ticonderoga,  and  marched  against  Burgoyne.  After  the  war  had  closed,  he 
resumed  his  activity  in  business,  and  resided  during  the  subsequent  years  of  his  life  at 
this  house  on  Pawtucket  Street,  where  he  ended  his  days.  His  grave  is  in  the  little 
burying-ground,  opposite  Pawtucketville  church,  to  reach  which  his  funeral  procession 
passed  over  the  old  bridge  of  which  he  had  been  one  of  the  chief  owners  and  promoters. 

Next  below  the  Ford  house  is  the  old  Spalding  homestead,  purchased  in  1790  by 
Mr.  Joel  Spalding,  a  member  of  one  of  the  most  influential  families  in  this  section,  and 
who  had  served  with  bravery  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  old  house  is  a  pleasant 
reminder  of  the  gentle  flight  of  time,  as  it  has  changed  but  little  in  appearance  since  its 
erection.  It  was  the  birthplace  and  home  of  the  late  Dr.  Joel  Spalding,  one  of  Lowell's 
most  eminent  physicians. 

Following  the  Merrimack  along  its  restless  way  for  about  a  mile,  we  reach  the  mouth 
of  the  Concord  River,  near  which  for  many  years  was  maintained  a  ferry,  well  known 
in  our  local  history  as  Bradley's  Ferry,  and  in  use  as  early  as  1737  and  probably  many 
years  previous  to  that.  It  was  owned  and  managed  by  Joseph  Bradley,  who  also  built 
Barron's  Hotel,  situated  near  the  ferry  landing.     The  old  house  is  still  standing. 

The  ancient  highway  from  what  is  now  Bridge  Street  to  Clark's  Ferry  can  be  easily 
traced  to-day,  but  we  must  turn  aside  from  the  beaten  paths  to  visit  some  old  hearth- 
stones on  which  the  moss  of  forgetfulness  has  thickly  gathered. 

Over  a  hundred  years  ago,  a  few  steps  from  what  is  now  Merrimack  Square,  stood 
the  Nathan  Tyler  house,  surrounded  by  far-spreading  and  fertile  fields.  The  farm  was 
of  large  extent,  embracing  land  now  occupied  by  the  Carpet  Mills  and  reaching  beyond 
Palmer  Street.  It  is  difficult  to  transform  the  scene  of  Lowell's  greatest  activity  to-day, 
with  its  rush  of  electric  cars,  its  busy  mills  and  crowded  boarding-houses,  and  the 
constant  tread  of  hurrying  feet,  into  the  quietness  of  the  "green  pastures  and  still 
waters "  that  the  same  sun  shone  down  upon  a  century  ago.  The  house,  which  was 
one  of  the  most  pretentious  of  its  time,  was  built  by  Mr.  Nathan  Tyler  from  lumber 
prepared  by  him  at  his  saw-mill  at  Pawtucket  Falls.     Here  Mr.  Tyler,  with  his  goodly 


The  Lowell  Book 


family  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  dwelt  for  a  number  of  years  ;  and  to-day  his 
numerous  descendants  are  among  Lowell's  most  honored  citizens.  Finally,  Mr.  Tyler 
sold  a  part  of  this  estate  to  the  originators  of  the  Merrimack  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  built  another  residence  at  Middlesex  Village,  which  still  bears  the  title  of  the  "  Tyler 
Homestead,"  and  is  now  occupied  by  the  ladies  who  were  the  donors  to  this  city  of  the 
munificent  gift  of  "Tyler  Park."  After  the  purchase  of  the  Nathan  Tyler  house  by  the 
Merrimack  Company,  the  old  home  was  converted  into  a  hotel,  and  known  as  the  "  Old 
Mansion  House."  Captain  Jonathan  Tyler  had  the  hospitable  charge  of  the  "Mansion 
House"  for  a  term  of  years,  and,  under  his  management,  the  hotel  became  of  great 
importance  in  the  life  of  the  new  and  thriving  town,  and  was  the  scene  of  many  a  festive 
gathering ;  but  the  increasing  encroachments  of  the  mill  properties  in  its  neighborhood 
eventually  caused  the  removal  of  the  old  hotel.  Part  of  it  stands  now  at  the  corner 
of  Salem  and  Dane  Streets,  a  reminder  of  the  days  of  "Auld  Lang  Syne." 

Farther  up  the  hill,  on  the  site  which  St.  John's  Hospital  now  occupies,  and  of  which 
it  has  become  a  part,  was  a  stately  structure  in  the  early  days  of  Lowell,  which,  at  differ- 
ent epochs  in  its  history,  was  called  the  "  Gedney  House,"  the  "  Old  Yellow  House,"  and 

the  "Livermore  Mansion."  The  land  on  which  it  stood  was 
part  of  the  original  grant  to  Madame  Winthrop,  wife  of  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts.  The  house  was  erected 
about  1750  by  one  Timothy  Brown,  the  heavy  lumber  for  its 
construction  being  obtained  of  Captain  Ford,  at  his  saw-mill 
near  Pawtucket  Falls ;  but  the  interior  wood-work  was  pre- 
pared in  England,  and  then  shipped  to  this  country.  The 
place  was  a  noted  inn  in  "ye  olden  time."  After  changing 
owners  once  or  twice,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Philip 
Gedney,  a  British  consul,  who  left  his  country  for  political 
reasons,  and  who  chose  this  place  for  his  residence  and  lived  here  for  a  number  of  years. 
Then,  after  varying  experiences,  the  house  found  another  purchaser  in  Judge  Edward 
Livermore. 

At  this  period  the  estate  consisted  of  about  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  which, 
enclosing  the  imposing  mansion  standing  on  a  high  elevation,  laid  out  with  spacious  lawns 
and  avenues,  made  a  truly  magnificent  home  for  its  dignified  owner.  Judge  Livermore 
named  his  estate  "  Belvidere,"  a  title  which  now  embraces  all  the  surrounding  suburb. 
The  members  of  Judge  Livermore's  family  were  distinguished  for  brilliancy  of  intellect 
and  strength  of  character.  The  memory  of  the  gifted  but  erratic  daughter  of  the  house, 
Harriet  Livermore,  who  was  immortalized  by  Whittier  in  his  "  Snow-bound,"  will  make 
it  impossible  for  Lowell  residents  to  ever  allow  the  fame  of  the  old  "  Livermore  Mansion  " 
to  sink  into  oblivion  :  — 


Livermore  House. 


"  A  woman  tropical,  intense 
In  thought  and  act,  in  soul  and  sense, 
She  blended  in  a  like  degree 
The  vixen  and  the  devotee. 


Since  then  what  old  cathedral  town 
Has  missed  her  pilgrim  staff  and  gown, 
What  convent-gate  has  held  its  lock 
Against  the  challenge  of  her  knock ! 


And  still,  unrestful,  bowed,  and  gray. 
She  watches  under  Eastern  skies. 

With  hope  each  day  renewed  and  fresh. 
The  Lord's  quick  coming  in  the  flesh, 
Whereof  she  dreams  and  prophesies." 


CLARKo   TAVERN 


ji.v    i  YLER    Mul'iDoi  ■:^r:. 
MIDDLESEX      VILLAGE 


T  :n  lov/ell 


RlxEt   hiOUoE,    FORMERLY  A  TAVL.EN 


Historic  Points  and  By-ways 


Retracing  our  steps  across  the  Concord,  we  stop  a  moment  to  gaze  on  its  placid 
surface,  trying  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  period  when  its  banks  were  the  rendezvous  of 
Indians,  who  came  in  tribes  to  gather  iish  from  its  generous  bosom.  The  good  Eliot  and 
Gookin  are  said  to  have  taken  advantage  of  these  fishing  seasons  to  improve  the  spiritual 
and  moral  condition  of  the  Indians ;  and  from  Massic  Island,  where  Stott's  Mills  now 
stand,  they  told  their  dusky  listeners  of   the  "great  Father." 

Not  only  the  Indians,  but  the  English  settlers,  found  in  the  waters  of  the  Concord 
and  Merrimack  an  abundant  supply  of  fish,  the  rivers  at  that  time  teeming  with  salmon, 
shad,  and  alewives.  Instead  of  the  rude  devices  used  by  the  Indians,  the  fish  were  taken 
in  great  numbers  in  nets  and  seines ;  but,  alas !  the  old  "  fishing  spots  "  are  no  more 
available,  and  the  palmy  days  of  fishermen  have  passed  forever.  The  sparkling  waters 
of  the  Concord  no  longer  reflect  the  silver  sheen  of  the  "inhabitants  of  the  deep." 

Nearly  a  mile  from  the  old  Concord  Ferry,  following  the  line  of  what  is  now  Central 
Street,  was  an  ancient  waterway,  which  at  the  present  time  is  widely  known  as  Hale's 
Brook.  On  its  banks  in  1790  was  erected  by  Moses  Hale  the  first  woollen-mill  ever 
started  in  Middlesex  County.  The  building  is  still  standing,  but  is  now  used  as  a  tene- 
ment. This  small  beginning  was  the  nucleus  of  large  and  prosperous  industries,  includ- 
ing the  woollen-mills,  a  lumber  business,  and  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder.  The  fame 
of  these  works  spread  to  such  an  extent  that  the  governor  of  the  State  and  his  council 
made  an  official  visit  to  them.  These  manufactories  were  at  the  zenith  of  their  prosper- 
ity long  before  the  existence  of  any  of  our  large  corporations. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Hale  also  built  the  large  mansion  afterward  owned  by  Joshua 
Swan  and  his  heirs,  and  but  recently  destroyed.  The  house  was  three  stories  high, 
brick  ends,  and  heavily  timbered.  People  gathered  from  all  the  neighboring  towns  to 
view  the  raising  of  the  immense  structure.  Tables  were  spread  on  the  extensive  grounds 
for  their  refreshment,  and  the  "raising"  was  made  a  time  of  general  festivity.  The 
event  was  considered  of  great  importance  at  that  date,  and  has  passed  into  the  annals  of 
Lowell. 

A  short  distance  from  Hale's  Mills,  following  the  "old  Salem  road,"  is  Parker 
Street,  which  has  an  interest  for  us  in  that  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  highways  within  the 
boundaries  of  Lowell,  and  also  because  the  "  Old  Marshall  Tavern  "  is  on  this  street. 

It  stands  on  a  slight  elevation,  and,  with  the  extensive  grounds  in  the  rear  and  the 
old  sycamore-trees  in  front,  differs  but  little  in  appearance  from  the  time  of  its  erection  in 
1794,  and  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  fancy  the  stout  country  teams  loaded  with  produce  and 
driven  by  sturdy  farmers,  who  have  left  their  New 
Hampshire   homes  weary  hours  before,  stopping  at 
the  hospitable   entrance  for  "  refreshment  for  man 
and  beast"  ere  they  continue  their  journey  to  Bos- 
ton.    The  old    house  has    resounded  with   laughter 
and  hearty  greetings,  and    even  now  has  a  mellow 
cast  of  countenance,  as  if  musing  over  some  of  the 
old  jokes.     But,  alas !  hosts  and  guests  have  all  gone 
years  ago  beyond  that  "  bourne  from  which  no  travel- 
ler returns."     The  old  "  Marshall  Tomb,"  across  the 
road  from  the  tavern,  opened  its  portals  to  receive 
all  that  was  mortal  of  "  mine  hosts,"  and  stood  for  Massic  Falls. 


lo  The  Lowell  Book 

over  a  century,  a  reminder  of  old  fashions  and  customs ;  but  the  hand  of  the  destroyer 
has  reached  even  that,  and  the  old  tomb  is  no  more. 

A  short  by-path  leads  from  the  old  tavern  to  Chelmsford  Street.  It  was  in  this 
neighborhood  that  Benjamin  Pierce  lived  until  manhood.  His  home  was  with  his  uncle, 
whose  house  stood  near  the  spot  where  Orlando  Blodgett's  barn  is  now  located,  and 
whose  farm  embraced  a  generous  extent  of  the  surrounding  country. 

When  the  signal  of  alarm  was  given  on  April  19,  1775,  young  Pierce  was  ploughing  in 
a  field  on  Powell  Street.  Hitching  his  team  of  "steers"  to  a  stump,  he  took  his  gun  and 
started  for  Concord  on  foot.  He  served  through  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  afterward 
went  to  New  Hampshire  to  live,  of  which  State  he  was  twice  elected  governor.  While 
occupying  this  high  position,  he  yet  found  time  to  remember  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood, 
and  often  visited  his  early  home,  taking  great  pride  in  showing  the  historic  "stump  "  on 
Powell  Street. 

As  we  follow  the  old,  winding  Chelmsford  road,  we  can  almost  see  the  "embattled 
farmers  "  of  over  a  century  ago,  as  they  hurried  along  its  grassy  way  to  join  their  friends 
and  neighbors  in  the  great  struggle  for  liberty ;  but  only  for  a  short  space  are  we  allowed 
to  trace  the  track  of  their  historic  foot-prints,  for  as  we  reach  Golden  Brook,  the  "  Old 
Highway  to  the  Merrimack  "  again  glides  across  our  path,  and  like  a  sentinel  guarding  the 
secrets  of  the  past,  silently  warns  us  that  we  must  cease  our  journey.  Old  things  indeed 
have  passed  away,  yet  "they  cannot  be  quite  forgotten  ;  for,  though  they  have  no  speech 
nor  language,  yet  are  their  voices  heard  in  the  streets." 

Sara  Swan  Griffin. 


AN  EARLY  DEED  OF  THE  TRANSFER  OF  LAND  NOW  THE  HEART  OF 

THE  CITY  OF  LOWELL. 

This  present  Indenture  witnesseth  an  agreement  between  Josiah  Richardson  Senr.  of  Chehnsford  in 
the  County  of  Middlesex  in  New  England  on  ye  one  part,  &  John  Naberha,  Joseph  Line  &  Samuel 
Naberha  of  Wamasseck,  we  for  ye  love  we  bear  to  ye  before  said  Josiah,  have  lett  unto  him  one  parcell  of 
land  lying  at  ye  mouth  of  Concord  River,  being  scituated  on  ye  west  side  of  ye  River,  and  parUy  upon  Merri- 
mack River,  on  ye  south  side  of  said  River ;  westerly  upon  the  Ditch  being  the  bounds  of  ye  Land  which  we 
ye  said  Indians  sould  to  Mr.  Tynge,  and  Mr.  Hinchman:  South  by  ye  little  Brooke  called  Speens  Brooke, 
all  which  land,  we  ye  said  Indians  above  named  have  lett  unto  ye  above  said  Josiah  for  ye  space  of  One 
Thousand  and  one  years  to  him  his  heires,  executors,  administrators  and  assigns  to  use  and  improve,  as  he 
ye  said  Josiah  or  his  heires,  administrators  or  assigns  shall  see  cause.  For  which  he  ye  said  Josiah  is  to 
pay  at  ye  terms  and  one  Tobacco  pipe,  if  it  be  demanded.  In  Witness  hereunto  this  19th  of  January  in 
ye  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  six  hundred  eighty  and  eight. 

John  Naberha  (X)  his  mark 
Samuel  Naberha  (X)  his  mark 
Witness 
Jonathan  Richardson 
John  Richardson 
Samuel  Richardson 

CllARLKSTOWN,  Aug.  5,  1698.     Entered  by  Saml.  Phipps,  Regr. 


THE  GEOLOGY  OF  LOWELL. 

HE  geology  of  a  city  like  Lowell  must  necessarily  be  hidden  away  beneath 
macadamized  streets.     Factories  and  machine  shops  are  not  favorably  adapted 
to  the  preservation  of  dikes,  those  scars  that  show  the  traces  of  hidden  fires 
and  volcanic  forces,  or  to  veins  of  quartz,  nature's  attempt  to  piece  together, 
in  a  comely  fashion,  the  crevices  of  some  underground  ledge. 

Many  an  interesting  geological  relic  is  concealed  beneath  a  row  of  blocks.  Fletcher 
Street,  once  a  veritable  pass  of  Thermopylae, —  from  the  height  of  its  rocks, —  has  lost 
all  traces  of  its  scientific  interest  on  the  east  side ;  and  did  ever  any  one  who  bought 
a  house  lot  on  Westford  Street  consider  that  the  foundation  thereof  was  worth  to  a  geolo- 
gist a  trip  from  Boston  to  Lowell  ?  The  fine  specimens  of  orthoclase  feldspar  with  well- 
defined  angles,  peculiar  to  the  hill  once  on  Bellevue  Street,  have  all  disappeared. 

This  coarse  crystalline  variety  of  granite  was  a  proof  of  the  fact  that  ages  ago  many 
thousand  feet  of  solid  rock  rested  above  it,  and  that  the  foundations  of  our  city  were  hid- 
den away  in  what  would  be  termed  now  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 

On  the  east  side  of  what  is  known  as  the  French  mansion  one  can  still  look  down 
upon  an  embankment  where  once  "the  great  railroad,"  as 'it  was  called,  from  Lowell  to 
Boston,  passed  through  a  cut  in  the  solid  rock  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  and  in  some 
parts  forty  feet  deep.  This  feat  of  engineering  attracted  crowds  of  visitors  in  Lowell's 
early  days,  and  was  considered  a  gigantic  undertaking.  The  mica  schist,  uplifted  from  its 
original  position,  shows  the  wave  line  caused  by  lateral  pressure. 

The  two  belts  of  rock  formation  that  pass  through  Lowell  are  mica  schist  and  gneiss, 
although  the  latter  has  become  a  disputed  term.  The  dip  is  northerly,  and  the  strike  runs 
easterly  and  westerly.  On  the  southern  side  lies  a  coarse  mica  schist  that  the  work- 
men call  "rotten  stone."  On  the  north  we  find  micaceous  gneiss.  These  belts  vary  in 
width,  but  extend  in  a  south-westerly  course  toward  Worcester. 

Professors  Silliman  and  Agassiz  both  found  it  profitable  to  come  to  Lowell  for  an 
examination  of  its  rocks.  A  large  mass  of  granite,  bearing  deep  glacial  grooves,— the 
deepest  ever  seen  in  New  England, —  was  found  by  Agassiz  upon  the  bank  of  the  Merri- 
mack, nearly  opposite  Alder  Street.     It  was  afterward  built  into  the  river  embankment. 

As  this  article  requires  only  a  casual  view  of  the  geological  interest  of  Lowell,  we 
leave  special  features,  like  the  Dracut  quarry,  the  nickel  mine,  and  the  Chelmsford  lime- 
stone, and  pass  on  to  the  relics  of  the  glacial  period,  perhaps  ten  thousand  years  ago. 

Every  one  is  familiar  now  with  accounts  of  a  sheet  of  ice  that  came  down  from  the 
frozen  North,  smoothing  off  ledges,  deepening  valleys,  and  bringing  bowlders,  great 
and  small,  to  cover  our  fields.  We  can  point  to  the  Merrimack  River,  where  it  makes 
a  sudden  turn  near  Tyngsboro,  as  a  proof  that  a  mass  of  ice  in  that  neighborhood  acted 
like  a  dam,  forcing  the  river  to  turn  aside  from  its  old  bed,  and  to  cut  a  new  way  through 
the  solid  rock.  Once  it  flowed  through  a  valley  in  the  line  of  the  old  Middlesex  Canal, 
and  emptied  into  the  Atlantic  at  Boston. 

Our  two   rivers,   the   Concord   and   the   Merrimack,   represent   different  phases  of 


12  The  Lowell  Book 

growth  and  stages  of  advance.  The  one  is  young,  the  other  comparatively  old. 
The  Concord  has  had  its  day  of  active  life.  The  Merrimack  is  in  its  prime,  and  still 
deepening  the  bed,  through  which  it  flows,  on  its  way  to  the  ocean. 

Unmistakable  signs  of  the  path  of  an  iceberg  are  found  in  our  city  upon  a  ledge  in 
the  rear  of  the  Highland  church,  and  upon  a  bowlder  on  the  west  side  of  the  main  avenue 
of  Fort  Hill. 

In  the  field  of  the  "  Long  Meadow  Golf  Club  "  one  cannot  fail  to  notice  a  peculiar  ridge 
of  land  passing  through  its  centre.  A  portion  of  it  has  been  dug  away  for  gravel,  and 
we  never  look  upon  this  mutilation  without  a  pang  of  regret.  The  land  is  level  upon  both 
sides.  The  ridge  winds  in  a  graceful  curve  from  Long  Meadow  at  one  end  to  the  bank  of 
the  river  on  the  other.  The  public  highway  has  been  cut  through  it,  revealing  on  the 
south  side  a  mass  of  rounded  rock,  known  as  a  roclic  nioutonnie.  From  the  road  to  the 
river  a  wall  is  built  upon  the  top  of  the  esker,  marking  its  outline  through  the  fields. 

These  "eskers,"  as  they  are  called,  extend  throughout  New  England.  Fragments 
can  easily  be  traced  by  geologists,  but  this  one  in  our  own  neighborhood  is  so  clearly  de- 
fined and  so  well  preserved  that  it  may  be  considered  a  perfect  specimen  of  its  kind. 

The  esker  is  supposed  to  have  been  formed  during  the  last  stages  of  the  ice  age.  A 
stream  of  water,  enclosed  between  icy  walls,  once  flowed  south  through  the  Tewksbury 
meadows.  It  brought  down  in  its  course  quantities  of  sand  and  gravel.  When  the  river 
disappeared  and  the  frozen  barriers  melted  away,  the  ridge  remained.  The  Indians  made 
use  of  these  eskers  for  their  camping  grounds  and  also  for  their  burial-places. 

A  more  difficult  problem  to  solve  is  that  of  the  drumlins,  among  which  Fort  Hill  is 
numbered,  with  its  long  gradual  slope  on  the  east  side.  These  drumlins  are  not  ordinary 
hills,  but  just  vast  heaps  of  unstratified  material,  or  "glacial  till,"  with  a  structure,  in 
many  cases,  as  hard  as  solid  rock.  The  small  islands  in  Boston  Harbor  and  the  hill  upon 
which  the  State  House  stands  are  all  drumlins,  belonging  to  a  cluster  in  that  vicinity. 
How  such  hills  were  formed  is  only  a  matter  of  conjecture. 

A  noted  orator  was  asked  at  what  one  historical  event  he  would  have  chosen  to  be 
present.  He  replied  promptly,  "  The  Creation."  There  are  pages  enough  in  the  geolog- 
ical history  around  Lowell  to  make  her  citizens  become  earnest  and  reverent  students. 

Harriette  Rea. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SOCIAL  SYSTEM  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

MANUFACTURING. 

^HEN  Francis  Lowell  and  Nathan  Appleton  at  Edinburgh,  in  1811,  struck 
hands  in  the  undertaking  of  manufacturing  cotton  cloth  in  the  United 
States,  they  had  not  only  a  mechanical  and  commercial,  but  a  social  and 
industrial  problem  to  solve.  The  refluent  eddies  of  the  French  Revolution 
were  still  significantly  obvious.  Utopian  schemes  propagated  by  Saint- 
Simon  and  Fourier  in  France,  industrial  co-operation  preached  and  practised  by  Robert 
Owen  at  New  Lanark  in  Scotland,  were  conspicuous  in  an  atmosphere  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  social  revolt. 

Although  bringing  so  much  of  good  to  humanity  in  general,  the  invention  of  the  spin- 
ning-mule, the  power-loom,  and  the  steam-engine,  brought  little  less  than  a  catyclism  of 
misery  to  the  textile  districts  of  England  and  Scotland.  The  cottage  system,  with  its 
carefully  cherished  regulations  as  to  apprenticeship,  was  swept  away.  Tempted  by  easily 
acquired  riches,  favored  by  the  total  absence  of  factory  laws,  limited  by  no  moral  senti- 
ment save  that  of  self-preservation,  the  capitalists  were  permitted  a  kind  and  degree  of 
exploitation  of  the  laboring  classes  never  before  and,  happily,  seldom  since  occurring  in 
the  history  of  mechanical  industry. 

Necessity,  not  of  the  workers,  but  the  very  social  fabric  of  the  kingdom,  wrested 
from  Parliament  the  first  factory  act  in  1802.  For  more  than  a  decade  before  and  as 
long  after  Lowell  and  Appleton  met  in  Edinburgh,  the  whole  realm  was  convulsed  with 
discussion  upon  the  object-lessons  of  disease,  pauperism,  and  social  decay,  brought  about  in 
Northern  England  and  Southern  Scotland  by  the  application  of  machinery  to  the  manu- 
facture of  textiles. 

The  opportunity  was  open  to  those  early  American  manufacturers  to  choose  sub- 
stantially such  policy  in  reference  to  their  employees  as  they  should  see  fit.  Massachu- 
setts had  offered  bounties  for  such  undertakings.  There  were  no  factory  laws,  and, 
practically,  no  knowledge  whatever  either  of  the  evils  flowing  to  society  from  the  unre- 
stricted selfish  sway  of  capitalism  or  how  to  prevent  them.  While  the  boarding-houses 
established  at  Lowell  have  often  been  referred  to,  and  justly,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
humane  impulse  and  the  broad  business  prescience  of  her  founders,  it  is  to  be  under- 
stood that  boarding-houses  were  an  absolute  necessity  of  the  situation.  Not  only  were 
the  physical  accommodations  for  operatives  lacking,  but  New  England  girls  could  not  be 
induced  to  trust  themselves  in  a  mushroom  factory  town,  controlled  by  strangers,  without 
some  certain  guarantee  of  moral  safety. 

In  brief,  the  Lowell  boarding-house  system  constituted  only  a  detail  of  a  general 
principle,  worked  out  elsewhere.  In  part,  this  solution  was  made  at  Waltham.  Francis 
Lowell  died  before  the  city  that  bears  his  name  was  thought  of,  but  both  he  and 
Appleton  had  wrought  out  a  definite  conclusion  respecting  an  employer's  relations  with 
employees  long  before.  The  suggestions  probably  came  from  Robert  Owen's  experiment 
on  the  Clyde  ;  and  it  is  in  this  —  that  they  chose  the  example  of  that  wise,  philanthropic 
manufacturer-reformer  rather  than  that  of  the  average  factory  manager  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact  during  their  studies  of  the  manufacturing  question  —  that  they  deserve 
the  lasting  gratitude  of  their  countrymen. 

Robert  Owen  had  come  up  from  the  ranks,  and  become  a  skillful  master  spin- 
ner. On  his  way  he  had  observed  conditions  that,  in  his  opinion,  were  inimical  to  the 
social  welfare  of  the  communities  in  which  factories  were  situated,  and  which  prevented 


14  The  Lowell  Book 

the  best  results,  industrially  considered.  With  the  object  of  managing  things  differently 
and  of  making  money,  too,  he  influenced  the  purchase  of  the  Dale  Mills  at  Lanark,  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Clyde,  and  there  put  into  execution  principles  connected  with  the  manage- 
ment of  mill  help  that  had  become  a  settled  policy  with  him.  He  stamped  out  the 
dishonesty  and  cruelty  of  foremen  characteristic  of  the  dealings  of  the  latter  class  with 
the  operatives,  abolished  the  apprenticeship  of  paupers,  improved  the  dwellings,  estab- 
lished schools,  and  limited  the  working  hours  of  minors  with  reference  to  educational 
needs.  A  model  industrial  village  was  created  in  what  was  previously  a  slovenly 
settlement  ruled  by  degradation  and  misery.  He  was  laughed  at  and  scorned  by  his 
competitors,  but  his  experiment  succeeded.  The  mills  made  money ;  and  the  people  were 
thrifty,  prosperous,  and  happy. 

Later  on,  when  Lowell  and  Appleton  were  moving  about  England  and  Scotland, 
picking  up  ideas,  making  drawings,  plans,  etc.,  and  getting  suggestions  for  their  intended 
enterprise,  Robert  Owen's  experiment  at  New  Lanark  was  attracting  the  attention  of 
reformers,  economists,  and  philanthropists  all  over  Great  Britain,  and  even  in  continental 
Europe.  Visitors  came  from  everywhere,  even  from  America  ;  and  additional  force  and 
conspicuousness  were  given  it  by  the  contrast  with  other  conditions  and  places,  and  by 
the  controversy,  then  in  its  most  heated  phases,  going  on  in  Parliament. 

It  is  easy  to  see  where  Lowell  and  Appleton  found  their  model.  The  credit  is  due  to 
them  that  they  took  heed  thereof.  Their  purpose  at  that  time  was  to  start  a  cotton-mill 
in  an  already  thickly  settled  town,  a  community  already  governed  by  the  wholesome  re- 
straint of  schools  and  churches  and  established  standards  of  ethics.  American  social 
science,  if  there  was  anything  that  deserved  such  a  name,  knew  little  of  the  dangers  of  the 
Old  World  factory  towns.  No  questions  would  be  asked  or  conditions  imposed  upon  their 
project.  They  availed  themselves  of  their  liberty  of  action  by  building  houses  for  their 
foremen,  and  established  and  supported  the  Rumford  Institute,  a  social  and  educational 
institution  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  workers. 

When  the  scene  of  greater  activity  was  transferred  to  Lowell,  it  was  accompanied 
naturally  by  the  elaborate  conservative  features  of  boarding-houses,  matrons,  schools,  and 
churches  now  so  familiar.  Here  it  was  the  mind  of  Nathan  Appleton,  undoubtedly,  that 
ruled  the  determinations  of  the  mill  directors.  He  was  president  of  the  Merrimack  Com- 
pany from  the  first  and  for  many  years.  His  was  a  mind  of  uncommon  breadth  and  ver- 
satility. Cotton  manufacturing  was  only  an  incident  of  his  business  career;  for  he  had 
become,  even  when  Lowell  built  his  mill  in  Waltham  in  1814,  already  a  successful  mer- 
chant of  Boston.  His  characteristic  search  for  the  broader  outlook  was  evidenced  always, 
and  especially  when,  subsequent  to  the  period  now  under  consideration,  he  represented 
his  district  in  Congress,  and  wrote  several  valuable  pamphlets  on  trade  relations,  political 
economy,  and  labor.  The  latter  reflect  the  ideas  put  in  practice  under  his  supervision, 
and  show  that  his  policy  had  a  broad  foundation  of  general  principles  and  accurate, 
patient  observation  and  experiment  that  in  these  days  would  be  classed  as  scientific. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  assume  the  universality  of  conditions  like  those  represented  in 
the  Lowell  Offering  to  know  that  the  policy  adopted  gave  to  the  business  here  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  morally  estimable  bodies  of  operatives  ever  gathered  in  a  cotton-mill. 
The  wealth  of  its  endowment  may  be  seen  in  the  prevailing  character  of  the  population, 
in  the  homes  that  were  established,  in  the  descendants,  social  customs,  intelligence,  and 
virtue  of  Lowell's  present  people.  The  influence  and  example  of  the  established  condi- 
tions in  Lowell  have  been  felt  throughout  this  Commonwealth,  probably  farther.  The 
social  status  of  the  mill  workers  in  every  New  England  town,  at  any  rate,  is  influenced 
even  to  this  day,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  worker,  by  the  policy  of  dealing  with  their 
predecessors  chosen  by  Francis  Lowell  and  Nathan  Appleton  in  the  beginning. 

Rodney  Field  Hemenway. 


.^^]:RS  roR:r  I'l'  i  ^ark 


ROGERS  HALL  5CtiOOL 


.STArt  MORMAL  SCHOOL 


low; 


ROGERS  HALL. 


HE  tract  of  land  on  which  is  situated  the  Rogers  Hall  School  is  a  small 
^«  portion  of  a  much  larger  area,  comprising  about  three  thousand  acres  in 
5K'  "  Billerrikey,"  which  was  granted  in  1649,  by  the  Governor  and  Company 
2IJ  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  Margaret  Winthrop,  "  the  wife  of  our  late  Governor." 
Thirteen  years  later  five  hundred  of  these  acres  were  released  by  Mrs.  Winthrop  to  the 
government,  and  by  it  "  lajd  out  vnto  the  Indians  who  are  the  inhabitants  of  Waymesick, 
on  the  east  side  of  Concord  Riuer  and  joyning  to  the  said  riuer  &  to  Merrimack  riuer, 
it  runnes  upon  Concord  Riuer  about  one  mile  &  three  quarters." 

These  red  men  erected  for  self-defence  a  fort  on  the  eminence,  to  which  the  name 
Fort  Hill  has  since  been  given.  They  were  converted  to  Christianity  by  the  great 
apostle  John  Eliot,  and  the  territory  on  which  they  dwelt  became  part  of  one  of  the 
"praying  towns"  which  he  established.  The  tribe  long  since  disappeared,  leaving  no 
traces  behind  them  except  such  as  are  occasionally  found  in  the  rude  implements  of  war- 
fare and  domestic  utensils  which  are  even  now  occasionally  exhumed. 

In  1805  Zadock  Rogers,  the  father  of  Miss  Elizabeth,  purchased  of  Richard  Derby,  of 
Boston,  about  half  the  premises  which  had  been  set  off  to  the  Indians  ;  and  it  remained 
in  the  family  until  1883,  when  she  and  her  sister  Emily  sold  nearly  all  the  ancestral 
estate,  with  a  condition  that  the  purchasers  should  expend  at  least  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  in  laying  out  and  beautifying  the  thirty  acres  known  as  the  Fort  Hill  Lot,  and 
that  it  should  then  be  conveyed  to  the  city  of  Lowell,  "  to  be  maintained  perpetually  as  a 
public  park,  for  the  unrestricted  use  of  its  citizens." 

The  conditions  were  faithfully  observed  ;  and  the  "  Rogers  Fort  Hill  Park,"  as  it  was 
appropriately  named,  will  remain  for  all  time  a  monument  to  the  public  spirit  and  gen- 
erosity of  these  ladies. 

Subsequent  to  the  decease  of  her  sister,  Miss  Rogers  in  1892  conveyed  to  a  corpora- 
tion named  "  Rogers  Hall,"  which  had  been  chartered  at  her  request,  about  an  acre  of  the 
remaining  homestead  estate,  upon  which  stood  a  beautiful  and  commodious  mansion, 
erected  by  her  father  in  1837-38,  with  the  provision  that  it  should  be  forever  maintained 
as  a  private  school  for  young  ladies.  In  making  the  conveyance,  she  thus  in  writing 
expressed  her  reasons  and  purposes :  "  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with  the  efforts  of  young 
women  to  acquire  an  education  which  will  fit  them  better  to  discharge  the  duties  which 
they  owe  to  God  and  their  fellow-men.  Young  women  no  less  then  young  men,  need  to  be 
well  equipped  in  this  age  for  the  battles  before  them."  Her  wish  was  that  the  institution 
should  afford  "  the  advantages  of  high  intellectual  culture,  as  supplementary  to  our  public 
schools."  With  genuine  catholicity  she  provided  that  "  the  school  shall  be  open  on  equal 
terms  to  all,  of  whatever  sect,  nationality,  or  religious  belief." 

The  generous  donor  lived  long  enough  to  witness  the  success  of  the  institution 
which  she  founded,  and,  dying,  left  to  Rogers  Hall  the  whole  of  her  large  fortune. 

Miss  Rogers  liked  to  speak  of  the  struggles  of  her  parents  in  their  efforts  to  earn  a 
livelihood  by  farming.     She  said  that  the  nearest  market  in  her  early  childhood  was  to  be 


1 6  The  Lowell  Book 

found  in  Boston,  to  which  place  her  father  once  or  twice  a  week  drove  his  ox-team,  loaded 
with  products  from  his  farm.  His  two  sons  and  three  daughters,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  times,  aided  their  parents  by  their  own  manual  labor.  There  were  few  neighbors. 
The  nearest  meeting-houses,  "with  their  sounding-boards  and  sounder  doctrines,"  as 
she  said,  were  at  Pawtucket  Falls  or  Tewksbury.  The  mail  arrived  once  a  week.  Long 
journeys  were  taken  on  horseback.  Their  evenings  were  lighted  by  pine  knots  or  tallow 
dips.     The  only  mills,  then,  were  the  indispensable  saw  and  grist  mills. 

Miss  Rogers  until  her  last  illness  managed  with  good  judgment  her  large  property. 
Her  investments  were  carefully  made.  She  rarely  asked  advice  in  respect  thereto ;  and, 
whenever  sought  and  obtained,  it  was  never  followed  unless  it  met  her  own  approval. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  strength  of  mind  and  character.  Had  she  lived  in  the  days 
of  her  ancestor,  John  Rogers,  the  martyr,  I  have  often  thought  that  she  would  have  gone 
to  the  stake  rather  than  sacrifice  her  religious  convictions.  She  was  a  devout  member  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  to  whose  tenets  she  faithfully  adhered ;  and  yet  in  all  her 
business  dealings  she  judged  men  not  by  the  creed  they  professed,  but  by  their  lives  and 
their  character.  While  her  sister  Emily  had  the  benefit  of  an  excellent  education  ob- 
tained at  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  she  herself  had  only  the  limited  advantages  which 
the  public  schools  of  her  day  could  afford  ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  an  apprecia- 
tion of  her  sister's  superior  attainments  had  much  to  do  with  her  founding  and  endowing 
Rogers  Hall. 

In  the  establishment  of  this  institution  Miss  Rogers  was  unconsciously  acting  in 
accordance  with  the  convictions  and  practice  of  her  Pilgrim  ancestry.  A  certain  profound 
sense  of  the  ethical  and  religious,  as  well  as  the  practical  value  of  a  good  education, 
wrought  in  her,  as  it  did  in  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  of  an  earlier  day,  when  the  Massa- 
chusetts colonists  at  the  side  of  the  meeting-house  builded  the  school-house,  that  train- 
ing in  the  branches  of  secular  knowledge  might  strengthen  and  elevate  the  minds  of  their 
children  for  an  intelligent  study  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  trustees  of  the  school  require  that  the  course  of  study  pursued  therein  shall  be 
thorough  and  systematic  and  such  that  girls  graduating  therefrom  should  be  prepared 
for  admission  to  the  leading  colleges  for  women.  That  Mrs.  Underbill,  in  whose  charge 
the  school  has  been  since  its  opening  in  1892,  has,  with  the  aid  of  her  able  assistants, 
faithfully  and  efiSciently  carried  out  the  intentions  of  its  founder  and  its  board  of  gov- 
ernment, is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  it  ranks  to-day  with  the  best  preparatory  schools 
of  its  class  in  the  country. 

Its  certificate  of  qualification  admits  to  all  colleges  which  do  not  require  a  special 
examination. 

Many  factors  have  worked  together  for  the  speedy  and  marked  success  of  the 
school :  its  exceptionally  beautiful  situation,  surrounded  by  ample  grounds  for  e.xercise 
and  recreation ;  the  high  ideal  of  scholarship  and  conduct  maintained ;  that  strong 
personal  interest  in  each  pupil  which  carries  with  it  perpetual  stimulus  and  inspiration ; 
and,  above  all,  the  untiring  and  enthusiastic  devotion  with  which  the  first  principal  of 
Rogers  Hall  has  labored  at  her  noble  task. 

Among  the  many  institutions  of  Lowell  which  are  the  city's  pride  and  honor, 
the  Rogers  Hall  School  holds  a  distinguished  place. 

George  F.  Richardson. 


ARCH  OF  THE  51X  ARCH  BRIDGE 


fPOM  5IX  ARCH  BRIDGE 


^  0NC02D  KWz^  VIEWj 


9| 


olX   ARCH  BRIDGE. 


THE  MIDDLESEX  MECHANICS'  ASSOCIATION. 

HE  Association  received  its  charter  June  i8,  1825,  nearly  a  year  before  the 
incorporation  of  the  town  of  Lowell.  In  its  original  constitution  and 
purpose  it  was  an  exact  copy  of  the  organization  founded  thirty  years  before 
by  Paul  Revere,  the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanics'  Association. 
Like  that,  it  was  primarily  a  trade  guild,  with  provisions  for  the  mutual  support  of  needy 
members,  the  control  of  apprentices,  and  the  encouragement  of  good  craftsmanship.  Like 
that,  its  early  meetings  were  held  at  the  tavern.  Being  a  trade  guild,  it  strictly  limited 
its  membership  to  mechanics,  meaning  thereby  any  persons  who  had  learned  a  trade. 
A  painter,  a  printer,  a  tailor,  masons  as  well  as  machinists,  were  among  its  charter 
members.  Incidentally,  it  aimed  to  educate  its  members  by  means  of  a  library,  a  collec- 
tion of  "  philosophical  apparatus,"  and  by  scientific  lectures.  The  first  period  of  the 
Association's  life,  therefore,  was  a  struggle  between  those  who  would  have  limited  its 
aims  and  its  membership  to  its  original  trade  guild  character  and  those  who  wished 
to  broaden  both. 

By  183s  the  first  forward  step  had  been  taken.  Mechanics  and  manufacturers  —  i.e., 
the  agents,  overseers,  and  mill  hands  who  knew  no  trade — were  made  eligible  to  member- 
ship, the  trade  guild  functions  had  become  obsolete,  and  the  education  of  mechanics  and 
mill  operatives  by  library,  laboratory,  and  lectures,  was  now  its  essential  function. 
As  prominent  leaders  in  this  liberal  movement  may  be  mentioned  Warren  Colburn, 
Joel  Lewis,  George  Brownell,  and  Theodore  Edson,  the  latter  the  Association's  first 
honorary  member ;  but  the  re-establishment,  the  new  founding,  of  the  Association,  was 
made  possible  by  that  extraordinary  body  of  men  to  whom  Lowell  itself  owes  its  material 
existence,  and  whose  parental  care  for  the  people  whom  they  brought  here  aroused  the 
admiration  of  their  contemporaries,  and  will  be  remembered  so  long  as  Lowell  lasts. 
Influenced  by  Kirk  Boott,  the  manufacturing  companies  gave  the  land  on  Button  Street 
and  most  of  the  money  needed  to  build  the  permanent  home  of  the  Association.  The 
building  was  dedicated  in  September,  1835,  the  address  being  given  by  Dr.  Elisha 
Bartlett,  then  soon  to  become  the  first  mayor  of  Lowell.  For  nearly  twenty  years  the 
Association  continued  without  substantial  change  as  an  educating  force,  stimulating 
the  intellectual  life  of  artisans  and  operatives,  at  once  the  proof,  and  very  largely,  no 
doubt,  the  cause  of  that  high  degree  of  general  intelligence  which,  we  are  told,  character- 
ized the  workers  of  that  generation.  It  was  the  pet  of  the  corporations;  and  to  this 
period  are  due  the  gifts  of  the  beautiful  portraits  of  Washington  and  of  the  founders 
of  the  city,  the  development  of  the  physical  laboratory  till  it  exceeded  in  value  and 
usefulness  that  of  many  of  the  colleges  of  its  day,  and  the  accumulation  of  books,  largely 
scientific,  till  its  library  became  one  of  the  finest  in  the  country.  The  establishment 
of  the  reading-room,  too,  dates  from  this  period. 

Through  it  all,  however,  there  was  the  old  contest  between  the  conservatives  and 
the  liberals,  the  latter  being  again  successful;  and  in  1851  the  Association  made,  to  the 
lasting  regret  of  many  of  its  members,  its  second  change,  by  admitting  all  citizens  to 


^^  The  Lowell  Book 

membership.  It  retained  for  many  years  the  rule  that  a  majority  of  the  board  of  govern- 
ment should  be  mechanics  or  manufacturers,  yet  it  nevertheless  gradually  ceased  to  be 
a  mechanics'  association  except  in  name.  The  library  became  more  literary  and  popular 
and  less  scientific,  the  physical  laboratory  was  not  kept  up,  and,  most  significant  change 
of  all,  the  scientific  lectures  gradually  were  metamorphosed  into  the  popular  lyceum. 
Probably  it  is  these  lyceum  lectures  that  come  most  quickly  to  the  mind  when  the 
Mechanics'  Association  is  mentioned.  An  early  course  was  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
with  six  lectures  on  Representative  Men  ;  and  Phillips  and  Curtis,  Beecher,  Garrison,  and 
Gough  were  frequently  heard.  There  was  no  system  of  reserved  seats,  and  no  special 
privileges  for  members.  Huntington  Hall  was  sure  to  be  filled,  and  the  coveted  seats  were 
secured  by  going  early  and  waiting  patiently  the  opening  of  the  doors.  The  course  was 
the  literary  event  of  the  year,  and  a  strong  link  to  bind  Lowell's  best  citizens,  whether 
members  or  not,  to  the  Association.  Possibly,  a  still  stronger  link  was  Mechanics'  Hall 
itself,  the  auditorium  for  all  the  Association's  lectures  till  Huntington  Hall  was  finished 
in  1855,  and  after  that  for  many  others  whose  learned  character  precluded  the  expectation 
of  a  large  audience.  And,  although  it  was  by  no  means  the  only  social  assembly  hall 
in  the  city,  it  is  quite  certain  that  no  other  had  clustered  about  it  so  many  pleasant 
memories.  For  sixty  years  it  kept  its  stern  mathematical  outlines,  its  portraits  in 
unalterable  order,  knowing  no  change  except  that  produced  (not  too  frequently)  by  a  fresh 
coat  of  paint  and  by  the  discarding  of  the  oil  lamps  for  gas  chandeliers,  and  a  genera- 
tion later  adding  to  them  the  electric  lights.  What  a  procession  of  festivity  the  old 
portraits  looked  down  upon,  from  the  annual  Washington  Assembly  of  the  early  days 
to  the  last  private  party  which  graced  the  hall,  and  had  its  own  beauty  enhanced  by  its 
quaint  setting  ! 

The  library  did  its  greatest  service  in  the  early  days,  when  the  public  library,  here  as 
elsewhere,  was  comparatively  undeveloped.  While  it  was  always  open,  not  only  to  mem- 
bers, but  to  any  who  were  willing  to  pay  an  annual  fee,  while  it  was  well  selected  and  of 
good  size  (twenty-five  thousand  volumes  at  the  end),  and  while  it  always  gave  its  patrons 
that  most  valuable  of  all  the  priveleges  a  library  can  give, —  immediate  access  to  the 
shelves, —  relatively,  it  became,  as  the  years  went  on,  of  less  consequence  to  the  community 
as  a  whole.  There  were  many  who  earnestly  desired  to  see  it  preserved,  and  the  institu- 
tion itself  devoted,  like  the  Boston  Athenaeum,  solely  to  its  maintenance  and  development. 
That  was,  indeed,  in  late  years,  the  sole  function  of  the  Association.  One  by  one  the 
other  things  it  aimed  to  do,  and  in  its  day  and  way  did  do, —  the  work  of  a  fraternal  benefici- 
ary organization  and  of  a  trade  and  labor  union  in  its  earliest  days,  its  mechanics'  fairs  (it 
gave  three  very  successful  ones  in  1851,  1857,  and  1S67),  its  lyceum,  and  its  general  educa- 
tional work, —  no  longer  needed  to  be  done  or  were  better  done  by  other  agencies.  Such, 
too,  apparently,  was  the  final  verdict  of  the  public  upon  the  library  work.  It  closed  its 
doors  with  the  close  of  the  year  1896.  The  building  so  long  devoted  to  the  intellectual  and 
social  life  is  now  dedicated  to  the  service  of  religion,  its  library  is  scattered,  its  portraits 
have  found  a  permanent  place  on  the  walls  of  the  City  Library  and  City  Hall ;  and  the 
Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Frederick  Lawton. 


m 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

HE  population  of  the  district  of  East  Chelmsford  in  1S22  was  about  two  hun- 
dred, and  within  its  limits  were  two  small  school-houses,  one  located  at  Paw- 
tucket  Falls,  and  the  other  near  the  Pound,  in  the  vicinity  of  Chelmsford 
Street.  When  the  Merrimack  Company  began  operations,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  children  of  their  operatives,  they  opened  a  school  in  a  building  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Green  School-house,  calling  it  the  Merrimack  School.  For  a  few  years  the  cor- 
poration paid  all  the  expenses  of  this  school,  putting  it  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Theo- 
dore Edson,  rector  of  St.  Anne's  Church. 

In  1S26  the  population  of  this  district  had  increased  to  about  twenty-five  hundred; 
and  East  Chelmsford  became  a  town,  receiving  its  name  from  Francis  Cabot  Lowell. 

At  the  first  town  meeting,  held  in  March,  1826,  at  Balch  and  Coburn's  tavern,  now 
the  Ayer  Home,  it  was  voted  to  divide  the  town  into  six  school  districts ;  and  at  another 
meeting,  held  in  April  of  the  same  year,  Theodore  Edson,  John  O.  Green,  Warren 
Colburn,  Elisha  Bartlett,  and  Samuel  Batchelder  were  chosen  as  the  first  school  committee, 
and  it  was  voted  that  ^1,000  be  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  schools  for  one  year. 

Perhaps  the  best  known  of  our  early  teachers  was  Joshua  Merrill,  who  at  this  time 
taught  the  school  in  district  number  five.  He  came  to  Lowell  from  Milford,  New 
Hampshire,  to  take  charge  of  the  Hamilton  and  Appleton  School.  The  following 
interesting  agreement  was  signed  by  the  town  clerk  :  — 

Lowell,  February  22,  1831. 
Joshua    Merrill  agrees  to  keep  the  Hamilton  and  Appleton  School,  coming  over  the  first  day  of 
March,     1831,  and  is  to  be  allowed  therefor  thirty  dollars  per  month,  of  four  weeks,  for  all  the  time 
he  may  keep,  the  vacations  in  the  course  of  the  year  to  be  left  at  his  discretion,  but  not  to  e.xceed  one 
month. 

In  a  paper  in  which  he  related  some  of  his  early  teaching  experiences,  Mr.  Merrill 
afterward  stated  that,  as  the  vacations  were  left  entirely  to  him,  he  managed  to  teach 
thirteen  months  during  the  first  year. 

The  year  1832  was  an  important  one  in  our  school  history,  as  at  that  time  the  district 
system  was  abolished  ;  and  in  bringing  about  this  very  important  change,  there  occurred 
one  of  the  most  exciting  contests  recorded  in  our  town  annals.  A  town  meeting  was 
held  in  September,  to  take  action  on  the  motion  to  authorize  the  loan  of  a  sum  of  money 
not  exceeding  $20,000  for  the  building  of  two  large  school-houses.  Dr.  Edson,  stand- 
ing alone,  favored  the  passage  of  the  motion,  and  was  opposed  by  the  entire  corpo- 
ration influence,  represented  by  Kirk  Boott.  Mr.  Boott  declared  that  the  schools  were 
good  enough,  and  that  ministers  were  not  suitable  persons  to  manage  the  expenditures 
of  a  town.  He  stated  that  the  locating  of  manufacturing  establishments  here  was 
simply  an  experiment,  and,  in  the  event  of  its  proving  a  failure,  everything  would  go  to 
ruin  and  decay.  Dr.  Edson  did  not  hesitate  to  advocate  what  he  believed  the  best 
educational  interests  of  the  town  demanded.  He  stated  that,  if  the  business  men  wculd 
fully  acquaint  themselves  with  the  needs  of  the  schools,  the  ministers  would  be  glad 
to  yield  the  ground  to  them.  And  then,  advancing  toward  his  opponent  and  looking 
him  squarely  in  the  face,  the  doctor  said,  "If,  in  the  event  of  so  disastrous  a  conclusion 
to  the  efforts  that  have  been  and  are  now  being  made  to  build  a  town  here,  which  has 
been  so  vividly  portrayed  by  the  gentleman,  it  should  happen,  in  some  future  age  of  the 


2  0  The  Lowell  Book 

world,   that    some  antiquarian  shall  search  among  its   ruins,  he  will  certainly  exclaim, 
'Where  are  their  school-houses?'" 

Dr.  Edson  carried  his  point,  the  money  for  building  the  North  and  South  Grammar 
School-houses  was  appropriated,  and  the  district  school  system  was  done  away  with. 
Kirk  Boott  felt  his  defeat  very  keenly,  and  withdrew  from  St.  Anne's  Church,  over  which 
Dr.  Edson  was  rector.  In  fact,  for  several  years  after  this  event  the  corporation 
magnates  took  no  interest  whatever  in  the  public  schools. 

The  Lowell  High  School  began  its  existence  in  183 1,  its  first  sessions  being  held 
in  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Eliot  and  Middlesex  Streets.  The  Rev.  Thomas  M.  Clark, 
the  Episcopal  bishop  of  Rhode  Island,  was  its  first  principal.  Mr.  Clark  also  supplied 
the  pulpit  of  the  church  at  Pawtucket  Falls,  as  he  was  at  the  time  preparing  to  enter 
the  ministry  of  the  Congregational  Church.  The  following  lines  are  from  Bishop  Clark's 
pen:  "In  the  year  1831  I  came  to  Lowell,  and  presented  myself  at  the  door  of  my 
venerable  friend,  the  rector  of  St.  Anne's  Church,  as  a  candidate  for  principal  of  the 
first  High  School  in  Massachusetts  outside  of  Boston,  and  perhaps  in  New  England; 
and  through  his  influence  I  obtained  the  appointment.  I  entered  upon  my  duties  in 
a  little  wooden  building  on  the  Hamilton  Corporation, —  a  building  that  might  have  cost, 
I  should  think,  three  or  four  hundred  dollars  to  erect.  Forty  boys  and  girls,  a  six-plate 
stove,  and  a  small  desk  crowded  the  building.  Occupying  seats  were  three  boys  who  have 
since  become  famous, —  General  B.  F.  Butler,  Governor  Straw  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
Gustavus  V.  Fox,  the  able  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  during  our  Civil  War."  The 
bishop  is  said  to  have  once  declared  that  he  never  flogged  the  boys,  as  there  wasn't  room 
enough  in  the  building  to  perform  the  operation.  From  its  first  location  the  school  was 
removed  to  the  Free  Chapel,  and  from  that  place  to  the  Edson  School  Building. 
After  a  short  interregnum,  caused  by  the  resignation  of  the  principal,  it  was  reopened 
in  what  was  known  as  Concert  Hall  on  Merrimack  Street.  We  next  find  it  in  the  Bartlett 
School  Building,  and  afterward  in  the  brick  building  on  Suffolk  Street  now  used  for 
a  parochial  school. 

In  1840  it  was  transferred  to  its  present  site  on  Kirk  Street.  In  1863  a  reunion  of 
high-school  graduates  was  held  in  Huntington  Hall.  Bishop  Clark,  being  present,  was 
asked  to  take  the  chair  and  act  as  principal  again,  as  he  had  done  in  former  years.  He 
consented,  and  immediately  called  upon  Benjamin  Butler  to  come  forward  and  speak 
his  piece,  which  the  general  did. 

The  public  educational  system  of  Lowell  to-day  consists  of  one  high,  nine  grammar, 
thirty-three  primary,  and  two  mi.xed  schools.  It  also  includes  one  training  school  and 
twelve  kindergartens.  There  are  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  school-rooms  in  actual  use, 
and  our  city  gives  employment  to  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  teachers  in  its  day 
schools.  Evening  schools  are  opened  during  the  winter  months,  which  give  employment 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  teachers. 

In  no  other  department  of  the  city's  affairs  do  the  people  take  so  much  interest  as  in 
our  public  schools.  Our  best  citizens  are  always  willing  to  act  on  the  School  Committee, 
and  liberal  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  schools  are  annually  made  by  the  City 
Council. 

Our  schools  are  managed  by  an  efficient  committee,  they  have  the  very  best  in  the 
way  of  equipment  and  supplies  which  money  can  buy,  they  receive  the  loyal  support  of 
our  people,  and  they  certainly  should  not  rank  second  to  those  found  in  any  city  of 
Massachusetts. 

Albert  L.  Bacheller. 


THE  OLD  MIDDLESEX  CANAL. 


HE  spirit  of  modernity,  pervading,  engrossing,  has  swept  away  the  conditions 
^M  of  society  which  existed  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  The  new  condi- 
^n.'  tions  which  it  brings  with  it  are  of  such  complex  nature,  the  new  order  of 
2^  things  demands  such  close  and  constant  attention,  the  activities  of  thought 
are  so  centred  upon  the  present,  that  the  past  is  forgotten,  and  the  old  days  are  lost 
sight  of  even  in  memory  and  in  imagination. 

In  the  hurry  of  rapid  transit  the  few  citizens  of  Lowell  who  knew  the  "old  order," 
and  with  it  the  days  of  usefulness  of  the  Middlesex  Canal,  find  little  time  to  recall  the 
charms  and  comfort  of  the  lazy  waterway  as  it  wound  its  leisurely  course  through  forests 
and  across  pastures.  The  great  mass  of  men,  women,  and  children  of  a  later  genera- 
tion, who  daily  come  and  go  in  mad  haste  behind  the  giant  steam  or  monster  electricity, 
seldom  conjure  up  in  mind  the  state  of  living  which  could  make  canal  transportation  even 
a  possible  means  of  convenient  travelling. 

But  in  those  early  days,  when  telegraph,  telephone  and  railway  had  not  come  to  knit 
society  together  in  strange  defiance  of  time  and  space,  the  building  and  development  of 
a  waterway  was  a  matter  of  great  importance  ;  and  its  history  is  full  of  vital  interest,  as  its 
success  and  failure  mark  its  birth  and  death. 

The  plan  to  open  up  a  cheaper  and  easier  mode  of  transportation  for  freight  and 
passengers  to  Boston  from  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  origi- 
nated with  the  Hon.  James  Sullivan,  whose  foresight  and  good  judgment  grasped  the 
future  possibilities  following  a  closer  union  between  the  towns  of  Massachusetts  and  the 
Granite  State.  The  charter  was  granted  in  1793  by  His  Excellency  John  Hancock.  The 
management  was  intrusted  to  a  board  of  thirteen  members ;  and  work  began  in  Septem- 
ber, 1794,  under  the  superintendence  of 
Colonel  Loammi  Baldwin,  sheriff  of  Mid- 
dlesex, whose  ability  as  a  skilful  engineer 
made  the  undertaking  a  success. 

The  canal,  thirty  feet  wide,  four  feet 
deep,  with  twenty  locks,  seven  aqueducts 
and  fifty  bridges,  was  in  1803  opened 
to  public  navigation  from  the  Charles 
River  to  the  Merrimack.  Commencing  at 
Charlestown  mill-pond,  it  passed  through 
the  town  of  Medford,  where  it  crossed  the 
Mystic  over  a  wooden  aqueduct,  on  to 
Horn  Pond  in  Woburn.  To-day,  as  one 
searches  for  the  old  trail,  one  learns  that 
the  bed  of  the  canal  at  this  point  serves 
to  carry  the  sewer-pipes  of  that  city ;  and 
the  now  forgotten  Mystic  Valley  Railroad, 
in  its  short  career,  ran  its  course  upon  the 
tow-path  of  the  older  highway.  Travers- 
ing  Woburn  and   Wilmington,   the   canal  Ruins  of  Aqueduct. 


?.EVTf=" 


22  The  Lowell  Book 

crossed  the  pretty  stream  "  Shawshine  "  by  an  aqueduct  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
feet  in  length,  and  came  out  at  North  Billerica  to  meet  the  Concord  River,  from  which  it 
received  its  greatest  water  supply.  Here  it  ran  along  the  "  Musketaquid,"  crossing  it 
by  guard-locks  and  floating  tow-path,  to  descend  gradually  upon  its  course  to  the  Merri- 
mack at  "  Chelmsford  Neck." 

The  construction  of  this  waterway,  and  the  life  which  centred  around  the  "  Neck  " 
where  its  first  set  of  locks  was  situated,  together  with  its  close  connection  with  the  rapid 
development  of  the  town  of  Lowell,  give  the  Middlesex  Canal  a  direct  historic  place  in 
the  story  of  the  city's  growth.  The  student  of  local  history,  sauntering  along  Middlesex 
Street  above  Branch  Street,  is  more  than  puzzled  if  he  attempts  to  trace  landmarks  con- 
nected with  this  early  period.  The  canal  bed  is  there,  just  beyond  Baldwin  Street ;  but 
the  depression  is  now  so  slight  that  the  lay  of  the  land  attracts  no  notice,  and  the  dykes 
for  the  tow-paths  are  signs  fast  sinking  back  to  pasture  level. 

In  the  early  twenties,  however,  had  the  same  traveller  approached  the  high-road  to 
East  Chelmsford,  he  would  have  found  a  village  of  many  activities  and  evident  bustle. 
The  famous  old  "  Tavern "  and  the  Unitarian  church,  respectively  setting  forth  their 
worldly  and  godly  purposes,  stood  side  by  side  on  the  right  of  the  street ;  and  directly 
opposite,  on  the  east  corner,  was  the  Baldwin  estate,  where  Mr.  Pratt's  homestead  is  now 
located.  A  bridge  spanned  the  canal,  and  just  across  it  on  the  river  side  lay  the  freight- 
house  and  barns.  The  office  of  the  collector  was  further  down  the  canal.  This  building  is 
still  standing  in  the  shade  of  trees  which  later  grew  in  the  canal  bed,  as  if  to  cast  a  kindly 
shade  over  the  abandoned  waterway  ;  and  one  may  catch  a  picturesque  view  of  the  site 
in  passing  the  Hadley  pasture.  A  store  was  in  active  operation  just  beyond  the  freight 
house,  and  other  stores  were  situated  where  trade  was  most  in  evidence.  The  manufact- 
ure of  glass  brought  a  band  of  German  operatives  to  the  Neck,  and  the  little  colony 
which  grew  at  the  east  of  the  village  gave  added  life  and  character  to  the  town.  Farther 
down  the  main  street,  near  Black  Brook,  stood  the  hat  factory  ;  and  it,  too,  had  a  well- 
earned  reputation  in  its  day. 

The  coming  and  going  of  these  people,  the  gay  boatmen  at  work  in  the  locks,  and 
the  arrival  and  departure  of  the  packet-boat,  "  Gen.  Sullivan,"  conspired  to  give  the  vil- 
lage an  exciting  interest  to  one  who  lived  away  from  the  high-road  of  travel.  The  stage- 
coach brought  its  passengers  from  the  neighboring  towns  ;  the  horn  blew  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning;  the  horses  attached  to  the  tow-line  were  drawn  up  in  file,  and  cajoled 
into  motion.  Captain  Silas  Tyler,  the  man  of  genial  nature  and  courteous  manner,  who 
for  so  many  years  commanded  the  packet-boat,  walked  up  and  down  the  deck,  bidding  his 
guests  make  themselves  comfortable.  Neighbors  gathered  together  in  friendly  gossip, 
the  ladies  often  knitting,  and  now  and  then  a  quiet  passenger  stretching  himself  out  in  a 
retired  corner  of  the  cabin  with  book  in  hand.  The  children  played  around  their  mothers 
or  pushed  aside  the  little  red  curtains  of  the  windows  to  watch  the  slowly  vanishing  scen- 
ery as  the  boat  glided  through  the  winding  stream.  Beautiful  wild  flowers,  lush  green 
growing  shrubs,  slender  white  birches,  and  tall  pines  skirted  the  canal.  Perhaps  a  ven- 
turesome lad  would  catch  a  bunch  of  berries  from  a  bush  as  he  leaned  over  the  edge  of 
the  packet ;  and  the  jolly  boatmen  sang,  and  shouted  to  each  other  and  their  horses  as  the 
sun  rose  higher  and  the  day's  warmth  tingled  the  blood.  Yes,  and  the  long  draughts  of 
"  black-strap,"  which  was  the  desire  of  every  boatman's  appetite,  added  not  a  little  to  the 
gayety  of  their  hearts  after  the  noon-tide  repast  at  Horn  Pond  tavern. 


Merrimack  River  23 

Those  were  rare  days,  when  one  left  home  at  early  morn  to  reach  Boston  at  three  in 
the  afternoon.  The  traveller  husbanded  his  strength  and  nervous  force.  There  was  no 
frantic  effort  of  the  body  to  keep  in  rhythm  with  the  great  forces  of  nature, —  no  tension, 
no  exhaustion. 

We  have  outgrown  the  very  spirit  of  such  travel.  But  the  lover  of  nature  will  find 
joy  in  following  the  open  trail  of  the  by-gone  canal ;  the  student  of  philosophy,  resting 
upon  the  grassy  tow-path,  may  well  review  the  life  of  the  canal,  reasoning,  as  it  were, 
upon  the  ebb  and  flow  of  all  human  usefulness ;  while  the  historian,  himself  philosopher 
and  artist  in  one,  will  conceive  the  past,  know  men,  deeds,  and  events  which  centred 
around  the  abandoned  waterway,  and  translate  the  coming  generation  back  into  the  days 
of  the  old  Middlesex  Canal. 

Mabel  Hill. 

MERRIMACK  RIVER 

AT    THE    JUNCTION    OF    THE    CONCORD    WITH    ITS    WATERS. 

Majestic  art  thou  in  thy  stately  flow, 
Thou  mighty  river,  while  tliy  depths  below 
Unnumbered  secrets  hold,  we  may  not  scan ; 
Attempt  were  vain ;  thy  lore  is  not  for  man ; 
The  written  page  to  him  alone  is  given  ; 
Thine  are  the  legends  but  revealed  in  heaven. 


Oft  as  I  rove  along  thy  flowery  bank, 

Through  tangled  mint,  and  sedge,  and  wild  weeds  rank, 

I  do  bethink  me  of  that  forest  race 

Who  'mid  these  haunts  had  their  rude  dwelling-place ; 

Whose  infant  warriors,  in  their  bark  canoe, 

Were  reared  upon  thy  waves ;  who  darted  through 

Thy  cataract's  foam,  or  on  its  billows  rocked 

Fearless,  and  solitudes  of  deserts  mocked. 


And  we  have  built  upon  the  wrested  soil 
A  city  consecrate  to  arts  and  toil. 
Her  noisy  loom  the  busy  maiden  plies, 
Mingling  her  threads  of  fancy's  varied  dyes. 

On  the  same  spot  where  once  the  Indian  maid 

Wove  the  gay  beaded  belt,  or  wampum  braid, 

To  bind  the  hunter  in  the  winter's  storm, 

Or  glittering  deck  the  warrior's  noble  form, 

Well  pleased  to  think  her  lover  would  approve. 

The  gift  of  fondness  and  untutored  love. 

Quenched  are  their  council  fires ;  these  ancient  oaks. 

Resisting  yet  the  woodman's  sturdy  strokes, 

Their  "  record  trees  "  have  been,  perchance ;  but  where. 

Now  of  that  long  lost  race,  the  registry  they  bear  ? 

Lowell,  January,  1842-  jANE  Ermina  Locke. 


LOWELL  WATERWAYS. 

JOWELL  has  been  called  the  Venice  of  America,  and  with  good  reason,  as 
you  will  say  when  you  have  seen  its  mills  illuminated  at  night  from  the 
heights  of  Centralville.  It  is  a  row  of  palaces  in  which  toil  and  skill  have 
residence.  Lowell  is  a  little  over  four  miles  long;  yet  the  Merrimack  River 
flows  for  five  miles  within  its  borders,  the  Concord  River  flows  for  two  miles  and  a 
quarter,  and  River  Meadow  Brook  has  a  course  of  two  miles  and  a  quarter.  That  makes 
a  total  of  nine  and  a  half  miles  of  natural  waterways  within  the  city  limits. 

But  there  are  other  waterways  than  these, —  the  canals  which  men  designed  and  built, 
—  streams  which  have  conferred  honor  upon  our  city  and  have  given  it  place  among  the 
industrial  communities  of  the  earth.  These  canals  have  a  total  length  of  five  and  a  half 
miles,  so  the  extent  of  our  waterways  is  close  to  sixteen  miles.  All  these  streams  are 
attached  to  water-wheels,  which  give  thousands  of  people  employment. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1792,  Dudley  A.  Tyng,  William  Coombs,  and  others  were 
incorporated  as  the  Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  upon  the  Merrimack  River.  In 
March  of  the  following  year  a  contract  was  given  to  Joseph  Tyng,  and  in  the  fall  of  1796 
the  canal  was  opened  to  traffic  amid  a  scene  of  great  rejoicing.  This  canal  was  one  and 
a  half  miles  long  and  thirty  feet  wide,  and  cost  ^50,000.  It  was  and  has  since  been 
known  as  the  Pawtucket  Canal. 

In  1 82 1  it  was  purchased  by  the  men  who  founded  Lowell,  and  was  then  converted 
to  manufacturing  purposes.  These  men  were  Patrick  Jackson,  Nathan  Appleton,  and 
Kirk  Boott.  They  made  the  Pawtucket  Canal  sixty  feet  wide,  and  they  built  the  Merri- 
mack Canal.  Among  the  engineers  was  James  B.  Francis,  then  a  young  man,  from 
England.  In  1845  ^Ii"-  Francis  was  chosen  agent  of  the  company,  and  from  that  time 
dates  the  wonderful  improvement  which  has  developed  the  powers  of  the  waters  of  the 
Merrimack.  He  designed  and  built  the  dam  and  the  Northern  Canal,  and  built  the  Moody 
Street  feeder,  which  takes  care  of  the  surplus  water  from  the  Northern  Canal.  He  im- 
proved the  system  and  made  it  effective,  and  it  stands  to-day  a  memorial  of  the  genius 
he  had. 

The  canals  have  an  aggregate  power  of  10,000  horse  power,  and  this  has  of  late 
years  been  increased  by  improvements  in  the  river  bed. 

There  is  one  other  canal,  the  Wamesit  Canal,  which  is  fed  by  the  Concord  River,  and 
which  gives  a  force  of  500  horse  power.  There  are  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  bridges  in 
Lowell. 

One  feature  of  Mr.  Francis's  time  was  the  gate  he  placed  at  the  guard-locks. 
This  was  done  because  the  city  lay  much  below  the  level  of  the  river.  If  the  water 
should  rise  above  the  spender,  it  would  overflow  the  city ;  but,  with  the  gate,  the 
flow  of  water  could  be  shut  off.  This  gate  was  hung  by  a  rope,  and  in  a  hasp  near  by 
hung  an  axe.  When  danger  came,  all  that  had  to  be  done  was  to  strike  one  blow  with 
the  axe,  and  the  rope  was  severed  and  the  gate  fell  into  place.  The  rope  was  cut  in  the 
spring  of  1852,  when  there  was  a  great  freshet,  and  the  city  was  saved  from  inunda- 
tion. In  1897  there  was  another  freshet,  which,  but  for  the  removal  of  some  pier- 
heads at  Pawtucket  bridge,  would  have  equalled  in  volume  the  freshet  of  1852.  But  the 
rope  was  not  cut ;  but  there  the  gate  hangs,  a  barrier  of  safety  in  case  of  need. 

James  Bayles. 


JliL    or    WAr. 


i'AWTUCKET     PALLS 


OLD  DRACUT  AND  SOME  HISTORIC  HOUSES. 

HE  picturesque  town  of  Dracut,  settled  in  1664,  originally  extended  for 
thirteen  miles  in  green  meadow,  sunny  upland,  and  wooded  height,  along  the 
Merrimack ;  and  from  source  to  mouth  there  was  no  fairer  spot  than  that 
bordering  on,  and  for  two  miles  below,  the  Pawtucket  Falls.  The  Indian 
trod  the  path  for  us  which  followed  the  exquisite  curves  of  the  stream ;  and  interrupted,  as 
it  was  some  thirty  years  ago,  by  the  encroachments  of  a  growing  city,  enough  was  left 
to  show  us  how  unequalled  it  must  have  been  in  beauty  when  the  water,  untrammelled, 
poured  down  in  noble  rapids,  and  little  streams  stole  silently  or  rushed  noisily  in,  as  the 
Concord  must  have  done,  bearing  upon  its  bosom  a  little  gem  of  an  island, —  just  a  tree, 
a  rock,  and  a  bit  of  turf.  The  river  had  a  decided  influence  upon  the  character  of  the 
early  settlers  of  old  Dracut.  There  was  such  a  frontage  of  it,  and  so  little  else  besides, 
that  it  seemed  to  dominate  over  the  whole  town.  Fishing  and  rafting  were  the  principal 
interests  ;  and  it  was  a  life  of  enchantment  to  float  down  the  stream  in  the  spring  floods, 
when  there  was  a  spice  of  adventure,  perhaps  danger.  There  was  the  camp-fire  by 
night,  the  rude  supper,  the  social  glass,  the  story,  the  song,  the  jest.  And,  surely,  life  was 
idyllic  when  in  the  late  spring  or  early  summer  the  fishing  season  came  on,  and  the 
sparkling  water  teemed  with  shad  and  salmon,  and  a  ready  market  for  them  twenty-six  miles 
away.  And  who  can  wonder  that  these  men  wandered  up  and  down  the  lovely,  leafy  path, 
with  the  glimmer  of  water  through  the  trees,  or  lay  upon  the  sunny  bank,  watching  the 
salmon's  flash  or  listening  to  the  musical  swirl  of  the  water  around  the  sharp  bend  or 
between  the  green  islands  .'  And  thus  the  traditions  are  that  fertile  fields  were  left 
untilled  and  uncared  for ;  and  it  is  hardly  possible  that  this  free  and  careless  river  life 
should  not  have  engendered  in  the  early  men  of  Dracut  a  sort  of  picturesque  conserva- 
tism, a  resistance  to  the  steady  march  of  improvement,  a  half  reluctance  to  accept  the 
new  ideas  which,  in  the  first  half  of  the  present  century,  began  to  take  root  in  all  the 
towns  around.  The  punch-bowl  was  handed  about  in  the  social  afternoon  visit  among 
women,  long  after  the  great  temperance  movement  was  in  full  swing  in  all  parts  of  New 
England  ;  and  I  can  well  remember  seeing,  when  a  child,  at  the  funeral  of  a  distinguished 
man,  which  called  out  many  representative  families  from  remote  parts  of  the  town, 
women  wearing  bright  red  and  green  plaided  cloaks  made  of  a  material  called  "camlet," 
which  at  that  time  had  long  since  gone  by  and  was  seldom  seen.  There  was  a  spirit  of 
Bohemianism  in  the  forefathers,  which  gave  to  their  descendants  a  distinct  and  spicy 
flavor.  'Tis  a  pity,  then,  since  the  early  men  of  Dracut  were  notably  late  in  reforms, 
their  sons  should  not  have  been  a  little  later,  in  which  case  there  might  have  been 
preserved  to  us  some  interesting  old  houses.  Prominent  among  them  was  the  old 
"garrison  house"  which  so  many  people  remember  (since  it  was  destroyed  less  than 
twenty  years  ago),  and  deeply  regret  its  loss.  A  clipping  from  a  newspaper  written  by 
the  late  lamented  A.  C.  Varnum,  who  has  contributed  so  many  valuable  records  to  the 
early  history  of  Dracut,  gives  the  following  details :  "  The  old  two-story,  pitched  roof 
house  in  Dracut  known  as  the  Garrison  House,  and  situated  on  the  westerly  side  of  the 


26 


The  Lowell  Book 


road  leading  from  Pawtucket  bridge  to  the  Navy  Yard,  is  being  demolished  to  make  way 
for  the  march  of  improvement.  The  house  is  forty-five  feet  front  by  twenty-two  deep, 
and  was  built  by  the  early  settlers  of  Dracut  in  1674,  as  a  place  of  rendezvous,  in  case 
of  an  attack  by  the  Indians,  for  the  safety  of  the  women  and  children  and  for  the  better 
defence  of  their  property  by  the  men.  The  roof  was  about  one-third  pitched,  and 
persons  could  stand  under  the  ridge-pole  of  the  attic.  The  flooring  and  framing  timbers 
were  si.xteen  inches  square,  and  are  all  hewn  instead  of  being  sawed.  They  are  of 
a  reddish  variety  of  pitch  pine.  The  second  story  projected  over  the  first  nearly  a  foot, 
in  order  to  afford  an  opportunity  to  shoot  through  loopholes  downward  upon  any  foe 
that  might  make  an  attack  upon  the  garrison.  The  perpendicular  projecting  timbers 
of  the  second  story  terminated  in  an  ornamental  finish  at  their  lower  extremity,  and 
appear  as  sound  as  when  put  into  the  framework  of  the  building,  two  hundred  and  twelve 
years  ago.  The  bricks  of  which  the  lower  portion  of  the  chimney  was  constructed  were 
made  in  Scotland,  as  appears  from  the  inscription  on  some  of  them.  A  portion  of  the 
basement  is  partitioned  off  from  the  rest  by  a  heavy  stone  wall.  This  enclosure  is 
supposed  to  have  been  made  for  the  better  safety  and  security  of  the  women  and  children 
who  sought  refuge  from  time  to  time  in  the  basement." 

There  was  a  long  "  carry  "  as  well  as  an  Indian  village  at  the  "  Falling  Waters," 
which  supposedly  rendered  this  point  a  dangerous  one,  as  the  Indians,  while  following 
the  shore,  may  have  amused  themselves  in  their  usual  graceful  and  humane  manner. 
One  can  imagine  the  sudden  alarm,  the  hasty  gathering  in  of  the  terrified  women  and 
children,  the  sharp  conflict,  and  the  agonized  roll-call  when  all  was  over;  although,  to  do 
justice  to  the  Pawtucket  tribe,  under  their  famous  chiefs,  Passaconaway  and  his  son, 
Wannalancit,  it  was  ever  a  most  friendly  and  peaceable  one.  The  old  histories  of  Dracut 
tell,  however,  of  some  fiery  encounters  at  the  old  garrison  house,  and  of  one  woman  at 

least  who  defended  herself  and  chil- 
'%!;  4i  dren,  single-handed,  by  an  ingenious 

stratagem,    which    put    to    rout    the 
whole  attacking  party. 


The  Old  Yellow  Meetiag-hottse, 

Built  in  1784,  with  as  much  pious 
wrangling  and  squabbling  as  if  its 
location  had  been  that  of  a  post- 
office,  was  an  interesting  relic  of  the 
olden  times,  and  one  perfect  type  of 
the  popular  church  of  that  day, — 
stanch  and  unyielding,  without  the 
slightest  attempt  at  ornamentation, 
with  square  wire-hinged  pews,  which  continued  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  demon- 
stration long  after  all  the  churches  in  the  conference  had  ceased  to  worship  God  in 
that  noisy  style.  Its  timbers,  we  are  told,  showed  no  decay,  and  were  incorporated 
into  the  new  church.  It  was  as  liberal  to  beliefs  as  it  was  tenacious  of  the  old 
customs,  and  afforded  shelter  to  various  sects,  Unitarians  among  the  number ;  and 
even  town   meetings  were  held  under  its    roof,  which  for  shrewd    wit   and    humor  no 


The  Old  Yellow  Meeting-house. 


MEMBEii  OF  THE  CONTINENTAL  '. 

!N  TMir    RE^'OLUTION 


:N.  JOonPH  BRADLEY  VARMUM 


MCLLY  VARNUM 


Old  Dracot  and  Some  Historic  Houses  27 

Coburn,  Varnum,  Richardson,  or  Bradley,  need  be  ashamed.  It  stubbornly  held  to  its 
old  name  through  decades  and  decades  of  time,  and  through  all  shades  of  paint  it  was 
always  the  "  Old  Yellow  Meeting-house  " ;  and  even  to-day,  though  a  smart  new  edifice, 
resplendent  in  stained  glass  and  the  very  ornatest  of  modern  architecture,  stands  where 
the  old  one  stood,  people  will  call  it  the  Old  Yellow  Meeting-house.  And  the  electric 
cars  run  to,  and  the  boys  play  ball  at,  and  the  cricketers  built  their  club-house  near,  the 
Old  Yellow  Meeting-house. 

Pawtticketville   Church. 

And  the  Pawtucketville  church,  with  its  century  record,  its  old-time,  unflinching 
loyalty  from  its  start  to  its  finish,  which  made  its  history  as  wonderful  as  that  of  the 
house  which  Jack  built, —  it  does  seem  pathetic  that  in  all  Dracut  there  is  no  room  for 
that  little  church,  with  its  very  graceful  belfry,  from  which  has  rung  out  in  clear  tones 
for  years  the  historic  bell  bearing  this  inscription:  "Boston,  Revere,  1822."  The  bell 
has  a  history  as  well  as  the  church,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  hear  that  it  will  be  preserved. 
Well,  since  the  church  can  neither  be  restored  nor  given  away  nor  sold,  let  it  be  taken 
down,  as  one  of  its  old  pastors  hoped,  "  with  a  feeling  of  reverence,  and  that  every  blow 
of  the  hammer  should  be  considered  sacred." 

The  Old  Varnum  Homestead. 

Few  amid  the  hum  of  busy  life,  and  the  gay  throng  of  pleasure-seekers,  know,  as  they 
whirl  past  Varnum's  Landing,  that  it  is  historic  ground.  Nearly  a  hundred  years  ago, 
before  our  great  water-wheels  began  to  revolve  or  the  Merrimack  was  spanned  by  a 
bridge,  there  was  at  this  point  in  the  river  a  link  which  connected  Dracut  with  the 
great  world.  It  was  a  ferry  between  the  two  wooded  shores,  which  approached  each  other 
so  nearly  as  to  make  this  spot  the  narrowest  in  the  river  for  many  miles,  and  to  give  it 
the  well-known  name  of  "Deer  Jump."  A  somewhat  rough  and  sunny  path  connects  the 
landing  with  the  Methuen  road,  on  which  stands  the  interesting  old  house  of  General 
Varnum,  of  illustrious  family  and  Revolutionary  fame,  practically  unchanged,  save  in 
some  few  particulars.  This  roadway,  glaring  in  sunlight,  was,  some  thirty  years  ago,  the 
same  embowered,  grass-grown  path,  with  ferns  and  flowers  growing  to  its  very  edge,  and 
occasional  glimpses  of  the  shining  river  below,  through  which  General  Varnum  rode  on  his 
way  to  the  battlefield,  or  in  times  of  peace  drove  with  his  wife  "  Molly  "  by  his  side,  in  his 
stately  carriage,  which  so  many  of  us  remember  as  a  prominent  figure  in  4th  of  July 
parades.  Doubtless,  also,  Washington  and  Lafayette  found  their  way  through  this  leafy 
path  (if  they  ever  did)  leaving  their  horses  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  A  few  rods 
from  the  old  house  is  a  quiet,  old-time  graveyard,  so  still  and  peaceful  that  the  birds  sing 
all  day,  unmolested  by  the  sound  of  gun,  from  the  thick  trees  which  grow  on  two  sides  of 
it.  Here  he  rests  with  his  wife  Molly  beside  him,  surrounded  by  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors. A  modest  stone  of  slate  bears  this  inscription:  "Erected  in  Memory  of  Hon. 
Joseph  Bradley  Varnum,  whose  life  was  a  series  of  public  acts,  rendering  the  most 
important  services  to  his  Country  in  offices  of  honor  and  trust  sustained  in  the  Town, 
State  and  Nation.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  chosen  Captain,  and  held  that  position 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  until  he  was  elected  Colonel  in  1787.  In  1802  he  was 
chosen  Brigadier  General,  and  in  1805  Major  General,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death. 
From  1780  to   1795  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  Senate  of 


28  The  Lowell  Book 

Massachusetts,  and  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  in  1780, 
and  revised  it  in  1820,  and  from  1795  to  1817  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  Senate  of  the  United  States,  during  which  time  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House  four 
years,  and  President  of  the  Senate  one  year.  He  died  in  full  hope  of  immortality  Septem- 
ber iith,  1820,  at  the  age  of  70  years." 

The   Toll-house. 

Where  Varnum  Park  now  is,  stood  at  the  end  of  the  dismal  covered  bridge  of  the 
period  the  toll-house,  which  is  hardly  historical,  but  was  a  place  of  more  than  common 
interest  and  of  distinct  individuality.  Many  people  will  remember  it,  and  also  the 
sprightly  lady  who  sometimes  presided  over  the  till, —  clean,  crisp,  and  of  unbounded  hos- 
pitality. There  were  hoodlums  then,  as  well  as  now ;  but  no  hoodlum  who  measured 
swords  with  her  ever  left  the  field  without  a  scratch.  On  a  Saturday  afternoon,  the 
great  field  day  of  country  people,  every  inch  of  space  belonging  to  the  toll-house  was 
occupied  by  vehicles,  with  horses  sleepily  enjoying  an  unwonted  holiday  or  luxuriously 
toying  with  their  nose-bags  while  their  owners  were  "  over  to  Lowell,"  trading.  I  can  see 
them  now,  as  they  come  trailing  one  by  one  wearily  across  the  bridge,  bearing  their 
sheaves  with  them.  The  toll-house  was  to  the  people  of  Dracut  what  a  modern  (men's) 
club-house  is  to-day, —  a  choice  bit  of  gossip  flying  through  the  air  was  sure  to  find  lodg- 
ment and  circulation.  The  "  Boston  daily  "  was  handed  from  hand  to  hand,  and  contents 
noted,  and  lost,  strayed,  or  stolen  conveniently  posted.  But,  when  the  bridge  became  free 
in  1850,  the  toll-house  was  no  longer  needed  ;  and  its  star  went  out. 

The  older  people  of  Centralville  will  recollect  the  baptizing  place  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Concord,  and  the  sweet  sound  of  the  hymn  sung  by  those  assembled  there,  as  it 
floated  across  the  river  in  the  solemn  stillness  of  a  Sunday  morning,  and  creeds  and 
beliefs  were  all  forgotten  in  the  impressiveness  of  the  scene  and  day.  But  the  great 
powers  that  be,  to  whom  in  all  humility  we  bow,  looked  with  an  envious  eye  upon  the 
fair  shore  opposite ;  and  from  that  day  its  beauty  was  doomed,  and  the  boys  and  girls  of 
to-day  can  never  know  the  Merrimack  as  their  fathers  knew  it.  Well,  it  is  all  changed 
now.  The  exquisitely  wooded  heights,  clothed  in  the  tender  greens  of  summer  or  the 
gorgeous  hues  of  autumn  in  one  unbroken  mass  from  summit  to  river,  are,  alas  !  a  thing  of 
the  past ;  and  fifteen  cents  to  Lawrence  can  hardly  atone  for  the  disfiguring  scar  left  by 
the  electric  road,  and  we  must  deplore  the  mutilated  banks  of  our  beautiful  Merrimack, 
and  the  dreary  waste  of  gravel  and  the  unsightly  heap  of  refuse  which  meet  the  eye, 
even  if  it  is  a  means  to  accomplish  the  end.  The  little  island  disappeared  one  day. 
Small  as  it  was, —  and  it  must  have  been  almost  the  smallest  on  record, — -it  yet  took  up 
too  much  room.  The  river,  which  used  to  ripple  along,  sometimes  wider,  sometimes 
narrower,  according  to  its  own  sweet  will,  is  as  far  as  possible  neatly  enclosed  in  the 
granite  walls  which  are  considered  "good  form"  in  manufacturing  circles;  and  every  rock 
in  the  river  that  can  be  hewed  or  blasted  out  of  existence  is  doomed.  The  beautiful, 
almost  classic  Concord,  dignified  by  nature  and  rich  in  association,  flowing  a  silver 
thread  in  green  meadows,  shows  no  disposition  to  frisk  until  in  the  last  four  miles  of  its 
course,  when  it  hurries  on  to  join  its  parent  Merrimack  and  gives  itself  up  to  be  dammed. 

The  sunny,  old  roomy  houses  in  Dracut,  which  seemed  to  grow  out  of  the  grass,  are 
fast  disappearing  one  by  one ;  and  thus  "  the  old  order  changeth,  giving  place  to  the 
new." 

Marv  E.  Wight. 


VIEW  OF  THE  MILL 

ON  THE 
MERRIMACK  RIVCii 


ST.  ANNE'S  CHURCH. 

(jEVENTY-FIVE  years  ago,  certain  capitalists  of  Boston  sought  to  establish 

the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  in  an  obscure  corner  of  old  Chelmsford. 

The    extensive   public    works,    and   necessary    accompanying    enterprises, 

drew  together  a  miscellaneous  multitude  of  people. 

The  men  who  invested  their  money  here  were  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  their  own 

interest  required  that  these  people  should  have  the  restraints  of  education  and  religious 

worship.     For  this  purpose,  they  not  only  established  schools,  but  also  built  a  substantial 

stone  church  and  parsonage. 

But  who  were  to  occupy  the  church .'  If  any  one  of  the  leading  denominations  was 
established  there,  it  would  excite  the  envy  and  jealousy  of  all  the  others,  and  confusion 
and  disaster  be  sure  to  result. 

Some  of  the  chief  men  were  Episcopalians,  and  they  would  prefer  that  mode  of 
worship ;  and  there  were  too  few  of  that  denomination  to  excite  the  envy  of  the  most 
sensitive.  It  was  resolved  to  give  that  mode  of  worship  a  trial.  They  were  fortunate 
in  the  selection  of  a  rector,  who  was  not  an  extremist,  and  who  understood  well  his 
peculiar  situation. 

The  experiment  was  entirely  successful.  The  affairs  went  on  harmoniously.  But 
in  process  of  time,  as  numbers  increased,  other  denominations  fraternized,  withdrew 
from  the  mother  church,  and  built  churches  for  themselves,  but  never  in  such 
numbers  as  to  enfeeble  St.  Anne's.  She  still  lives  under  her  second  rector.  She  is  not 
given  to  change.  I  have  been  a  constant  attendant  there  for  over  sixty  years,  and 
I  have  heard  expressed  no  wish  for  a  change.  Judging  by  the  past,  we  hope  that  two 
rectorships  will  cover  the  century. 

J.    S.    Russell. 


"Although  a  majority  of  the  directors  of  the  Merrimack  Company  were  Unitarians, 
they  voted  to  build  an  Episcopal  church ;  and  an  Episcopal  clergyman  was  called.  We 
can  hardly  appreciate  the  significance  of  that  fact  now.  Although  the  Episcopal  Church 
was  very  little  known  in  Massachusetts,  outside  of  Boston,  and  was  not  recognized  there 
as  a  church  of  reconciliation,  yet  here,  in  this  city,  the  Episcopal  church  was  planted, 
the  only  parish  for  the  whole  community,  the  house  of  worship  for  Christian  people 
of  all  names.  Here  at  the  Lord's  table  knelt  the  members  of  many  denominations,  and 
at  the  hands  of  the  pastor  received  the  Sacrament.  Here,  in  unity  of  spirit  and  the 
bond  of  peace,  they  prayed  in  the  prayers  of  their  common  ancestors  of  old  England. 
Here  they  together  recited  the  Apostles'  Creed,  to  which  for  several  generations  New 
England  had  been  a  stranger.  Thus,  until  the  growth  of  the  population  demanded 
new  churches,  St.  Anne's  stood,  like  a  parish  church  in  old  England,  as  the  church  of  the 
whole  people.  .  .  .  The  Prayer  Book  with  its  notes  of  Protestantism  and  Catholicism, 
of  Conservatism  and  Radicalism,  strikes  not  the  note  of  compromise,  but,  lifted  on 
a  high  plane,  sends  forth  in  strong  and  sweet  tones  the  notes  of  comprehension. 

"  Such  was  the  spirit  in  which  St.  Anne's  was  founded.  Such  is  the  spirit  which 
in  solemn  and  joyous  worship  she  sends  forth  day  by  day." 

From  the  sermon  of  Bishop  Lawrence,  on  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  St.  Anne's. 


MILITARY  ORGANIZATIONS. 


HAT  the  city  of  Lowell  has  lost  none  of  the  prestige  it  acquired  in  the 
-^  Civil  War  has  been  well  demonstrated  in  the  late  Spanish-American  con- 
\nL      flict.     All    classes    of   citizens  —  her    mechanics   and    artisans,    clergymen, 


merchants  and  manufacturers  —  were  inspired  by  the  martial  and  patriotic 
spirit  which  we  of  the  older  generation  remember  so  well  in  the  days  following  the  firing 
upon  Fort  Sumter.  The  "  great  uprising  "  of  the  North  in  those  days,  the  hurried  march 
of  our  "  Minute  Men  of  '6i,"  the  Sixth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  State  Militia,  to  the 
defence  of  the  nation's  capital,  and  the  long  agony  of  the  four  years  of  civil  strife,  can 
never  be  anything  but  realistic  so  long  as  there  is  one  actor  left  to  tell  the  story. 

Five  thousand  eight  hundred  of  the  best  blood  and  sinew  of  Lowell  marched  away 
from  this  city  in  response  to  the  numerous  calls  of  President  Lincoln.  The  thin  ranks 
of  the  Lowell  Grand  Army  Posts  are  evidence  of  how  few  survive  to-day. 

In  the  closing  days  of  the  Revolution  in  17S1,  when  Washington  was  hurrying  for- 
ward his  army  to  close  in  upon  the  British  forces  at  Yorktown,  he  wrote  a  personal  letter 
to  Lafayette  in  commendation  of  the  latter's  work  there,  so  well  planned  and  faithfully 
executed,  and  hoped  that  Lafayette  would  have  the  felicity  of  being  able  with  his  small 
force  to  prevent  the  escape  of  Cornwallis  until  he  himself  could  get  near  enough  to  be 
of  assistance.  A  few  days  after,  Lafayette  answered,  "  That  felicity  is  mine,  General 
Washington  ;  and  it  is  the  proudest  recollection  of  my  life."  So  the  surviving  veterans  of 
the  Civil  War  can  truly  say  that  the  knowledge  of  their  not  only  having  been  instru- 
mental in  preventing  the  disruption  of  the  Union,  but  of  having  lived  to  see  it  expand 
and  grow  in  strength  until  it  has  become  one  of  the  leading  nations 
of  the  earth, —  holding  a  foremost  place  in  the  recent  Parliament  of 
Nations  at  the  Hague,-— is  a  felicity  of  which  they  may  well  feel  proud. 

The  fact  of  Lowell  not  having  been  incorporated  as  a  town  until 
1826  prevents  any  extended  notice  of  her  claims  to  Revolutionary 
patriotism.  Nevertheless  there  were  those  living  in  East  Chelmsford, 
now  Lowell,  who  responded  to  the  Lexington  alarm,  joined  the  minute 
men  on  Chelmsford  Green,  and  marched  to  the  attack  of  the  British 
on  that  eventful  day.  Captain  John  Ford,  who  commanded  the  com- 
pany at  Bunker  Hill,  was  long  a  resident  of  this  part  of  the  town. 
The  Sixth  Massachusetts  Continentals,  now  existing  as  the  Sixth  Mas- 
sachusetts Militia,  dates  back  to  the  period  of  the  Revolution  in  1779 
and  1780;  and  this  regiment,  now  so  largely  made  up  of  Lowell  men 
that  it  seems  to  be  a  part  of  us,  was  much  in  evidence  in  those  days 
that  gave  birth  to  the  Republic. 

Three   times   during   the   war   of    the   Rebellion    the    Old   Si.\th 
"buckled  on  its  armor"  and  marched  to  the  seat  of  war.     In  1861  it 
obtained  its  national  reputation  as  the  first  regiment  from  any  State  to  reach  the  capital. 
It  was  also  the  first  to  receive  the  "baptism  of  fire  "  as  it  marched  through  the  streets 


Ladd  and   Whitney 
Monument. 


POST  OfTlCE 


CITY  HALL 


THE   ARMORY 


Military  Organizations  31 

of  Baltimore,  and  the  granite  shaft  facing  our  City  Hall  will  tell  the  story  to  generations 
yet  to  come  of  the  death  of  two  members  of  a  Lowell  company  on  that  eventful  nine- 
teenth day  of  April. 

In  the  late  war  with  Spain  the  Sixth  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  regiment 
that  was  thoroughly  equipped  for  action  when  the  summons  came  from  President 
McKinley.  It  served  creditably  in  the  Porto  Rico  campaign  ;  and  many  of  its  officers 
and  men  are  already  enlisted  for  the  Philippines  under  the  banner  of  Colonel  Rice,  who 
carried   them  through  that  campaign  so  successfully. 

Of  the  militia  companies  located  in  Lowell,  the  oldest  and  consequently  the  best 
known  is  the  Lowell  Mechanic  Phalanx.  It  was  organized  in  1825,  almost  coincident 
with  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Lowell.  It  is  now  known  in  military  circles  as 
Company  C,  Sixth  Regiment  State  Militia;  and  many  prominent  citizens  of  the  town 
and  city  of  Lowell  have  at  various  periods  been  officers  or  members  of  this  organization. 
Other  companies  organized  before  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  were :  the  City 
Guards,  in  1841  ;  the  Watson  Light  Guard,  in  1851;  the  Lawrence  Cadets,  in  1855.  In 
the  course  of  the  war  the  City  Guards  and  the  Watson  Light  Guards  gave  place  to  the 
Putnam  Guards  and  the  Sargeant  Light  Guards,  which  bodies  figured  in  the  late  war 
with  Spain  as  Companies  G  of  the  Sixth,  and  M  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  State  Militia. 
The  Lawrence  Cadets  became  the  National  Greys,  and  served  in  the  Civil  War  as  Com- 
pany A,  Sixth  Regiment.  Company  M  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  State  Militia,  Captain 
A.  D.  Mitten,  was  organized  April  2,  1888. 

During  the  Civil  War  numerous  independent  companies  and  several  regiments 
were  raised  in  this  city.  The  Richardson  Light  Infantry,  Captain  Phineas  A.  Davis, 
was  first  in  the  field.  It  was  organized  April  19,  1861,  the  same  day  the  Sixth  Reg- 
iment was  receiving  such  a  bountiful  harvest  of  "bullets  and  brickbats  "  at  Baltimore. 
Our  townsman,  the  Hon.  George  F.  Richardson,  was  foremost  in  securing  enlistments 
and  the  necessary  equipment  for  the  company ;  and  he  still  retains  a  lively  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  its  survivors,  and  is  always  present  at  the  annual  reunions.  On  the  com- 
pletion of  its  term  of  service  it  was  reorganized,  and  served  three  years  as  the  Seventh 
Massachusetts  Battery.  At  this  time  was  also  organized  the  Hill  Cadets,  afterward 
Company  D,  Sixteenth  Massachusetts  Infantry,  Captain  Patrick  S.  Proctor.  The 
larger  part  of  this  company  formerly  belonged  to  the  Jackson  Musketeers,  a  company 
which  had  been  previously  disbanded  by  Governor  Gardner. 

On  April  25,  1861,  the  Abbot  Greys  was  organized.  This  company  was  incorporated 
later  with  the  Second  Massachusetts  Infantry.  Judge  Abbot,  then  a  resident  of  Lowell, 
was  largely  instrumental  in  equipping  the  company.  His  son,  Edward  Gardner  Abbot, 
was  its  captain.  The  Butler  Rifles,  Captain  Thomas  O'Hare,  was  organized  May  i,  1861. 
It  was  afterward  known  as  Company  G,  Sixteenth  Massachusetts  Infantry.  The  Twenty- 
sixth  and  Thirtieth  Massachusetts  Infantry  were  organized  in  Lowell  at  Camp  Chase,  and 
were  very  largely  made  up  of  Lowell  soldiers.  Later  on  three  companies  of  the  Thirty- 
third  were  enlisted  from  this  city;  and  on  Feb.  16,  1863,  the  Fifteenth  Massachusetts 
Battery. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  Governor  Bullock  made  the  following  public  statement : 
"  Lowell  furnished  at  the  first  tap  of  the  drum  four  companies  to  the  immortal  Sixth,  to 
protect  the  capital  in  the  hour  of  gloom  and  almost  of  capture.  She  has  filled  every  one 
of  her  quotas  without  a  draft.     She  has  left  a  surplus  account  of  gallant  men  at  the  office 


22  The  Lowell  Book 

of  the  adjutant-general  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  ;  and  she  will  ever  appear  before  the 
whole  world  with  the  monumental  renown  of  having  contributed  the  first  blood  of  the  fifth 

'^''TheTourLwell  companies  which  were  at  that  time  a  part  of  the  Sixth  Regiment 
were  made  up  as  follows:  Company  C  (Lowell  Mechanic  Phalanx),  Captam  A  bert  S. 
FoLsbee;  Company  D  (City  Guards),  Captain  James  W.  Hart;  C-pany  H  (Watson 
Light  Guard),  Captain  John  F.  Noyes  ;  Company  A  (National  Greys),  Captam  Jos.ah  A^ 
Sawtelle.  The  Thirtieth  Regiment  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  so  largely  composed  of 
Lowell  men  that  they  have  always  held  their  annual  reunions  in  this  vicinity,  and  whose 
battle  flag  graces  Memorial  Hall,  was  the  last  regiment  of  volunteers  to  be  mustered  out 
of  the  federal  service.  Therefore,  with  the  Sixth  and  the  Thirtieth  the  first  and  the  last, 
it  seems  as  though  Lowell  ought  to  be  content  and  rest  on  her  laurels. 

Of  the  Lowdl  contingent,  the  most  notable  man  which  the  Civil  War  produced  was 
Benjamin  F.  Butler.  Not  only  was  he  the  most  conspicuous,  but  he  was  the  only  Lowell 
citi^en  who  attained  the  full  rank  of  Major-general  of  Volunteers.  His  record  at  An- 
napolis. Baltimore,  and  New  Orleans,  will  be  long  remembered.  His  stamping  out  o  ram- 
pant secession  in  the  latter  city  obtained  the  widest  approval  of  the  entire  North,  and  it 
also  brought  upon  him  the  universal  obloquy  of  the  entire  South.  .,.-,•  f 

Of  the  numberless  heroes  who  gave  their  lives  to  their  country,  the  hmits  of  this  brie 
sketch  will  not  permit  mention  to  be  made.  Their  memory  is  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
a  grateful  people.  From  Bull  Run  to  Appomattox,  Lowell  was  ^'P[''^-''\2Z7o 
battlefield  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  well  as  in  the  famous  march  from  Atlanta  to 
thlsea  along  the  Gulf,  and  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Some  of  them  "sleep  the  sleep 
that  n  this  world  knows  no  waking"  on  the  spot  where  they  fell;  some,  in  the  national 
emerer  es,  perhaps  with  a  headstone  inscribed  "Unknown."  Most  of  them  are  in  our 
own  buriaUplaces,  where,  clustered  on  the  mounds,  loving  remembrances  are  daily  found 
in  the  form  of  beautiful  flowers  and  garlands  of  immortelles.        ^  .        .^.        ,  . 

Our  City  Government  appropriated  a  fund  for  the  purpose  of  mscribmg  the  names  o 
deceased  Lowell  soldiers  from  1861  to  1866  in  our  own  Memorial  Hall     Their  names  wil 
now  be  handed  down  to  posterity  in  an  enduring  form.     Provision  is  also  made  for  a  dis- 
play  of  relics  of  all  the  wars ;  and  in  time  we  shall,  no  doubt,  have  quite  a  creditable 
collection  of  curiosities  and  war  relics.  _ 

On  the  fourth  day  of  March,  1861.  President  Lincoln,  in  his  first  inaugura  address, 
seeing,  without  doubt,  shadows  of  the  impending  conflict,  used  these  words :  The  mystic 
chord's  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to  every  hving 
heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union 
when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature.  l^^J^f^ 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  we  have  seen  this  prophecy  fully  verified.  J^e  moment 
the  call  to  arms  came  in  the  late  war,  the  men  of  the  South  were  as  eager  to  defend  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  and  to  meet  the  common  foe  as  were  the  most  P^^r-tic  defenders  n 
The  North  ;  and  so  the  North  and  the  South  marched  side  by  side  to  the  battlefield,  keep- 
ing step  to  the  music  of  the  Union.  Greenleaf   C.  Brock. 


THE  FIRST  UNITARIAN  CHURCH. 

HE  influence  of  the  institution,  like  that  of  the  individual,  cannot  be  fully 
measured  by  material    standards  or  external  conditions.     It    does  a  work 


spirit  is  true  and  high,  it  presses  on  to  nobler  and  grander  achievement,  its 
power  is  ever  broadening,  and  the  splendor  of  the  past  is  but  the  prophecy  of  its  future 
glory. 

Our  First  Unitarian  Church  makes  no  boasts  of  splendid  achievement,  and  yet  it 
has  been  a  quickening  and  helpful  power  for  good  in  the  life  of  the  city.  The  men  of 
strong  and  sturdy  character  who  met  in  the  old  stone  tavern  in  Pawtucket  Street  in 
1829,  and  organized  this  society,  founded  an  institution  whose  growing  power  they  could 
not  have  foreseen.  They  builded  better  than  they  knew.  Here  in  this  church  men  have 
felt  their  deeper  aspirations  stirred  by  Scripture,  hymn,  and  prayer ;  and  their  best 
impulses  have  learned  their  wider  scope  for  activity  in  the  busy  world  of  human  life.  In 
this  church  the  words  of  the  earnest  preacher  have  helped  men  and  women  overcome 
temptation,  meet  their  sorrow  with  a  braver  heart,  and  bear  one  another's  burden,  so  ful- 
filling the  law  of  Christ.  And  all  this,  I  believe,  was  intended  by  the  founders ;  but  they 
could  not  have  foreseen  the  number  who  would  feel  its  best  influence,  nor  the  manifold 
ways  in  which  it  would  minister  to  the  spiritual  needs  in  the  city's  life. 

The  history  of  all  these  seventy  years  has  been  for  the  most  part  peaceful  and  quiet, 
with  few  marked  incidents,  save  the  observance  of  the  Semi-centennial  in  1879  ^^'^  the 
Miles  Festival  in  1886.  Quietly  and  without  ostentation  the  society  has  gone  on  its  way 
and  done  its  work. 

The  real  strength  of  this  society  has  been  that  of  every  institution,  the  strength  of 
its  members.  It  has  sent  forth  into  the  city,  and  into  various  parts  of  the  country,  many 
a  youth  and  maiden  who  have  made  useful  and  honorable  careers.  It  has  counted  among 
the  members  men  who  have  attained  prominence  in  many  walks  of  life, —  skilful  physi- 
cians who  have  been  widely  successful  and  deeply  beloved,  able  lawyers  whose  integrity 
has  been  unquestioned ;  prosperous  merchants,  whose  honor  has  been  equal  to  —  yes, 
greater  than  —  their  prosperity ;  men  in  high  position,  who  have  been  faithful  to  their 
trusts,  and  managed  them  excellently  and  well.  Our  church  has  contributed  men  to  our 
civic  life  who  have  adorned  the  offices  they  held,  and  has  sent  forth  a  few  who  have  been 
conspicuous  in  the  service  of  the  State.  But  in  all  positions,  whether  high  or  low,  it  has 
always  furnished,  or  been  able  to  furnish,  men  of  character. 

Nor  has  it  been  less  fortunate  in  its  women.  In  the  early  history  of  the  church 
they  did  not  play  an  important  part.  One  who  was  once  a  valued  member  of  this  church 
writes  that  soon  after  the  installation  of  Mr.  Hinckley  the  records  bear  the  names  of 
women  upon  all  committees,  religious  and  executive.  But  even  before  that  time,  as  the 
writer  herself  admits,  there  were  "  occasional  Aquilas  and  Priscillas,  with  many  a  Dor- 
cas." And,  surely,  in  these  earlier  days  many  found  in  this  church  the  deeper  thoughts 
of  life  and  duty  which  impelled  them  to  faithful  and  noble  careers.  Since  Mr.  Hinckley's 
day  the  women  have  been  a  source  of  power  in  the  society.     They,  too,  have  occupied 


34  The  LowcU  Book 

positions  of  trust  and  honor  honorably  and  well.  A  glance  at  the  public  charities  of 
Lowell  will  show  how  many  who  have  served  them  have  been  connected  with  our  church. 
And  both  men  and  women  from  our  number  are  still  very  prominent  in  all  charitable  and 
philanthropic  movements,  and  in  all  that  makes  for  the  welfare  of  our  city  and  our  State. 

And  if  we  turn  from  the  church  itself  to  the  several  departments  of  its  activity,  we 
shall  find  the  same  sense  of  responsibility,  self-sacrifice,  and  devotion.  The  Sunday- 
school  has  shown  it  from  its  very  beginning  in  1S30.  It  has  never  been  as  large  as  many 
of  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  city ;  but  the  earnest  and  thoughtful  zeal  of  its  officers  and 
teachers  has  maintained  the  interest  of  the  scholars,  given  it  stability  of  character,  and 
made  its  work  a  truly  consecrated  one.  The  seed  sown  has  often  found  earth  waiting  to 
receive  it,  and  has  brought  forth  fruit  thirty,  sixty,  or  one  hundred  fold. 

Further,  the  same  spirit  of  consecration  has  marked  the  work  of  the  Ladies'  Sewing 
Society.  It  was  organized  in  its  present  form  in  1862,  in  aid  of  the  Sanitary  Commission, 
and  was  very  active  throughout  the  period  of  the  Civil  War.  Since  then  it  has  worked 
for  the  deserving  poor  in  Lowell ;  and,  though  for  many  reasons  the  interest  now  is  not  so 
great  as  it  once  was,  yet,  as  the  poor,  the  suffering,  and  the  helpless  are  ever  with  us, 
the  Sewing  Society  should  have,  and  eventually  will  have,  a  large  place  in  the  philan 
thropic  activity  of  the  church. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  organizations  of  the  church  is  the  Channing  Fraternity 
Like  the  Sewing  Society,  it  has  looked  beyond  the  limits  of  ecclesiastical  welfare,  and  has 
been  very  successful  in  ministering  to  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  side  of  the  city's  life. 
Formed  in  1871,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Blanchard,  the  Channing  Frater- 
nity seems  from  the  very  beginning  to  have  entered  upon  a  prosperous  career. 

Part  of  its  pioneer  work  was  the  establishment  of  the  Holly  Tree  Inn.  The  main 
object  of  the  Inn,  as  stated  by  one  interested,  was  "  to  encourage  temperance  by  offering 
hot  coffee  and  pure  milk  at  such  prices  that  the  poorest  laboring  man  and  woman  could 
afford  to  buy  them."  It  had  the  desired  effect  of  lessening  the  sales  of  into.xicating 
liquor  in  its  vicinity,  and  was  a  source  from  which  the  poor  obtained  much  nourishing 
and  appetizing  food.  Its  end  seemed  attained  when  private  enterprises  of  a  like  nature 
had  grown  up  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  lower  prices  and  better  quality  of  food 
prevailed  in  similar  restaurants.  By  its  sale  and  the  accumulation  of  interest,  a  fund 
of  five  thousand  dollars  was  secured,  that  enabled  the  Fraternity  to  accomplish  far-reach- 
ing results  in  other  directions. 

One  of  the  agencies  through  which  it  has  acted  has  been  the  Committee  on  Mis- 
sions. This  committee  has  held  religious  services  from  time  to  time  in  Huntington 
Hall,  Highland  Hall,  and  the  Church  ;  has  secured  for  these  services  eminent  preachers  of 
the  denomination ;  and  in  other  ways  endeavored  to  see  that  the  people  of  Lowell  had 
ample  opportunity  to  hear  all  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  the  Unitarian  faith. 

The  Committee  on  Culture  has  aimed  to  educate  the  moral  and  intellectual  tastes  of 
the  community.  Under  its  auspices  have  been  given  lectures,  concerts,  and  readings  of  a 
high  order.  These  have  contributed  to  the  reputation  of  the  Fraternity  ;  and  its  entertain- 
ments are  sure  to  meet  a  generous  and  deserved  response  from  the  people  of  Lowell,  in- 
dependent of  church  or  sect. 

The  Committee  on  Benevolence  and  Hospitality  have  tried  in  quiet  ways .  to  promote 
the  social  life  of  the  church,  welcome  strangers,  and  in  co-operation  with  the  minister 
bring  all  members  of  the  society  in  closer  friendly  relations. 


The  First  Unitarian  Church  35 

The  Committee  on  the  Flower  Mission  has  been  one  of  the  most  active,  beneficent, 
and  interesting  agencies  of  the  Channing  Fraternity.  For  over  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
flowers,  fruits,  jellies,  and  other  delicacies  have  been  sent  weekly  during  the  summer 
months  to  the  vestry,  and  distributed  among  the  poor  and  sick.  Flowers  are  not  only 
furnished  by  members  of  the  society,  but  Tyngsboro,  Chelmsford  Centre,  South  Chelms- 
ford, and  VVestford  have  been  contributors ;  and  the  hospitals,  the  Old  Ladies'  Home,  the 
Day  Nursery,  invalids,  and  sections  of  the  city  where  flowers  are  rarely  seen  have  had 
occasion  to  feel  grateful  for  the  generosity  of  our  friends,  and  the  work  of  our  committee 
and  their  efficient  helpers. 

The  Committee  on  Country  Week  have  also  done  a  work  of  which  they  may  be 
justly  proud.  For  many  years  they  have  sent  into  the  country  those  who  have  most 
needed  its  benefits.  The  effects  of  such  action  cannot  be  justly  estimated.  The  reports 
of  those  who  have  enjoyed  its  opportunities  could  alone  give  any  suggestion  of  its 
value.     Unfortunately,  such  testimony  is  precluded  by  the  limits  of  this  article. 

Closely  connected  with  the  Channing  Fraternity,  though  distinct  from  it,  is  the 
Young  People's  Fraternity,  which  was  started  in  1890,  and  is  devoted  to  the  intellectual 
and  social  life  of  the  younger  members  of  the  society.  It  has  been  a  helpful  influence 
to  bring  the  young  people  together  in  intellectual  sympathy  and  church  work. 

The  Lend  a  Hand  Society  has,  by  its  good  work  among  the  poor  and  suffering, 
enabled  the  children  to  get  ideas  of  practical  service  along  with  ideas  of  religion. 

The  Lowell  branch  of  the  Women's  Alliance  was  organized  in  November,  1882, 
with  sixty-five  members.  Much  helpful  work  has  been  done  for  less  fortunate  churches ; 
and,  by  interchange  of  the  deeper  thought,  fraternal  relations  have  been  established 
and  maintained.  Work  not  to  be  valued  by  money  is  carried  on  through  the  Post-office 
Mission  and  the  Cheerful  Letter  correspondence. 

An  illustration  of  the  outside  work  of  the  church  may  be  found  in  the  Ministry- 
at-Large,  which  was  started  by  members  of  this  society,  and  has  now  grown  into 
an  independent  organization. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  article  to  describe  adequately  all  the  activities  of  the  church. 
The  best  influence  of  them  all  is  due  to  earnest  effort  and  self-sacrificing  devotion,  and 
their  increasing  usefulness  depends  on  the  still  greater  earnestness  and  devotion  which 
the  men  and  women  of  this  generation  have  to  give.  May  the  strength  of  the  past 
be  the  prophecy  of  a  more  splendid  present  and  a  grander  future  !  May  future  records 
show  that  one  of  the  most  stimulating  and  helpful  influences  to  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
city  of  Lowell  has  been,  is,  and  ever  will  be  the  First  Unitarian  Church. 

Charles  T   Billings. 


THE  MINISTRY-AT-LARGE. 

HE  paternal,  almost  tender  solicitude  which  the  founders  of  Lowell  had  for 
the  operatives  of  their  mills,  and  the  flood  of  humane  interest  and  activity 


second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  finds  its  best  illustration  in  Lowell, 
in  what,  originally  organized  as  the  Lowell  Missionary  Society,  has  been  known  for  fifty- 
five  years  past  as  the  Ministry-at-large. 

In  the  first  year  of  its  existence  (1843)  the  society  devoted  itself  to  Unitarian 
denominational  work  in  the  West.  In  the  second  year  it  turned  to  the  unsectarian 
missionary  work  within  its  own  city.  The  Ministry-at-large  has  been  eminently  useful 
and  beneficent  in  the  life  of  the  city,  because  of  large  opportunities  for  work  in  a  grow- 
ing manufacturing  city,  because  of  good  judgment  in  its  directors,  and  because  of  fit- 
ness for  the  work  in  its  ministers. 

The  Rev.  Horatio  Wood  was  the  first  minister-at-large.  For  twenty-four  years  he 
labored  arduously,  and  succeeded  in  placing  the  work  on  a  firm  foundation.  Then  the 
Rev.  Hiram  Clarke  Duganne  carried  on  the  work  for  seventeen  years.  The  present 
minister  is  the  Rev.  George  C.  Wright,  who  for  thirteen  years  has  conducted  the  charge. 

Within  the  limits  of  this  brief  survey  of  the  Ministry-at-large,  it  is  not  possible  to 
name  its  innumerable  benefactors,  advisers,  and  friends, —  people  like  Thomas  Nesmith, 
Jonathan  Tyler,  Dr.  Dalton,  Dr.  Holbrook,  the  Penhallows,  the  Carneys,  Miss  Harriet 
Wilder,  Mrs.  John  Nesmith,  the  Knowleses,  the  Robbinses,  the  Richardsons,  the  Wrights, 
the  Talbots,  the  Battles,  the  Coburns,  the  Spaldings,  the  Livingstons,  James  Francis, 
Bradford  Bartlett,  and  many  others  of  similar  character  and  social  standing,  not  to  speak 
of  one  of  its  living  supporters  and  advisers ;  but  these  imparted  to  it  of  their  substance, 
service,  and  spirit,  to  make  it  strong  and  simple,  and  serviceable  to  the  worthy  working 
poor  people  of  Lowell.     This  it  has  been,  and  it  is  now. 

Here,  in  its  basement,  were  inaugurated  the  evening  schools  for  Lowell.  The 
Sanitary  Commission  made  its  headquarters  here  during  the  Civil  War,  as  did  the 
Volunteer  Aid  Association  during  the  recent  Spanish-American  conflict.  Sewing,  cook- 
ing, dressmaking,  gymnastic,  debating  and  mothers'  classes,  bathing  and  reading  and 
amusements,  are  features.  Relief  is  furnished  to  respectable  and  needy  people,  without 
regard  to  their  belief,  till  they  are  strong  and  self-supporting  again.  Church  and  Sunday- 
school  services  are  conducted  every  Sunday  in  a  beautiful  auditorium. 

To  maintain  its  work,  the  Ministry-at-large  depends  on  the  legacies  left  to  it,  and 
on  the  contributions  of  its  friends,  which  are  not  sufficient  since  the  withdrawal  of  the 
mill  contributions,  owing  to  the  recent  business  depression.  It  needs  more  money  for 
its  work.  The  advisory  work  which  is  done  far  surpasses  that  of  many  busy  lawyers  and 
doctors.  It  is  an  important  work  to  be  done,  and  in  line  with  the  advanced  method 
which  is  now  the  practice  of  the  foremost  philanthropic  workers.  It  means  prevention 
instead  of  reformation, —  not  alms,  but  a  friend ;  and  it  saves  from  moral  and  social 
wreckage  men,  women,  children,  and  homes. 

G.   C.  W. 


PHILANTHROPIC  INSTITUTIONS  OF  LOWELL. 

'F  giving  be  the  best  part  of  living,  Lowell  deserves  a  high  place  on  the 
roll  of  honor ;  for  from  the  time  of  our  fathers  until  now  an  urgent  public 
charitable  need  has  been  recognized,  and  wise  heads  and  generous  hands 
have  supplied  the  want,  not  without  much  personal  sacrifice.  It  may  not 
be  amiss  to  recall  our  public  charities  by  means  of  short  sketches,  naming  them  in  the 
order  of  their  establishment. 

"The  Lowell  Dispensary"  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first.  It  was  organized 
in  1836,  with  the  design  of  providing  medicines  and  medical  attendance  for  the  sick 
poor  without  charge.  Only  a  small  sum  was  collected  for  the  purpose ;  but  it  was  so  well 
husbanded  that,  when  such  obligations  were  assumed  by  the  city,  several  thousand 
dollars  which  had  accumulated  were  contributed  for  the  endowment  of  free  beds  in  the 
new  General  Hospital. 

In  1839,  Lowell  having  grown  to  be  a  city  of  upwards  of  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants,  with  a  large  percentage  of  homeless  operatives,  the  Lowell  manufacturing 
corporations  deemed  it  advisable  "  to  establish  and  maintain  a  hospital  for  the  conven- 
ience and  comfort  of  the  persons  employed  by  them,  when  sick  or  needing  medical 
or  surgical  treatment,"  and  "  to  contribute  the  funds  necessary  for  that  purpose."  There 
was  no  hospital  of  any  kind  in  Lowell  at  that  time.  The  Hospital  Association  secured 
a  fine  building  with  spacious  grounds  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  and  here  its  work 
has  been  carried  on  for  sixty  years.  There  was  not  a  little  local  pride  felt  when 
Charles  Dickens,  who  dined,  when  in  Lowell,  with  Dr.  Gilman  Kimball,  then  resident 
physician,  spoke  of  this  hospital  in  his  "American  Notes"  with  much  praise.  This  has 
been  the  pioneer  institution  here  in  establishing  a  training  school  for  nurses  and 
in  opening  an  out-patient  department.  It  also  has  an  isolated  contagious  ward  and 
a  resident  physician,  the  present  one  having  been  in  charge  for  thirteen  years. 
Operatives  without  means  are  treated  free  of  charge.  During  the  last  ten  years  the 
cost  to  the  corporations,  over  receipts,  has  been  ninety-three  thousand  dollars.  Verily, 
our  Lowell  corporations  are  not  without  souls.  The  management  of  this  institution 
is  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  trustees,  with  six  physicians  and  surgeons  who  serve 
as  a  medical  staff. 

The  next  charity  established  was  the  "  Ministry-at-large,"  an  extended  notice  of  which 
appears  in  another  column. 

In  1863  the  "Sodality  of  the  Holy  Family,"  connected  with  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
rented  a  single  room  in  Adams  Street  for  the  care  of  its  sick.  This  little  hospital 
soon  proved  too  small ;  and  the  house  which  now  stands  at  the  corner  of  Cabot  and 
Market  Streets  was  secured,  providing  accommodation  for  ten  or  twelve  patients. 
After  a  time  this  was  placed  in  charge  of  Rev.  John  O'Brien,  of  St.  Patrick's  Church. 
He  was  much  impressed  with  the  rapid  growth  of  this  small  institution,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  evolved  the  idea 
of  a  hospital  on  a  larger  scale ;  and  St.  John's  was  contemplated.     The  scheme  ripened ; 


3^  The  Lowell  Book 

and  in  1867  somewhat  more  than  an  acre  of  land,  known  as  the  Livermore  property, 
was  purchased  as  a  suitable  site  for  the  new  project. 

The  building  standing  thereon,  called  the  "  Old  Yellow  House  "  like  many  old  New 
England  mansions,  had  entertained  Washington  at  breakfast,  and  had  been  of  much 
importance  in  its  day.  At  the  time  of  its  purchase  it  was  a  tenement  house,  described  as 
having  two  or  three  families  in  each  room.  With  some  diiificulty  the  house  was  made 
ready  for  the  reception  of  patients;  and  in  April,  1867,  the  institution  was  formally 
opened.  The  eight  inmates  of  "  Father  John's  Hospital"  in  Cabot  Street  were  removed  to 
it,  and  St.  John's  Hospital  began  its  career  of  usefulness.  It  is  pathetic  to  read  of  its 
struggles  and  uncertain  income  ;  but  good  business  management  has  brought  the  charity 
along,  and  it  may  well  be  proud  of  its  present  fine  edifice  erected  in  1869,  and  its  enlarged 
usefulness.  The  "  Old  Yellow  House  "  in  the  eastern  corner  of  the  hospital  property 
seems  to  emphasize,  by  contrast,  the  thirty  years'  tireless  labor  of  the  noble  Sisters  who 
have  this  charity  in  charge. 

In  1 866  the  late  Mrs.  William  North  invited  six  ladies  to  her  parlor  to  discuss  the 
advisability  of  establishing  a  Home  for  Aged  Women  in  Lowell.  Enough  interest  was 
shown  to  warrant  other  meetings  ;  and  it  was  decided  to  attempt  the  enterprise.  In  1867 
the  Old  Ladies'  Home  Corporation  was  organized  under  a  State  charter.  Without  delay 
a  small  house  at  the  corner  of  Moody  and  Tremont  Streets  was  secured,  and  in  July  of 
the  same  year  the  Home  was  opened  with  six  inmates.  Four  years  later  its  capacity 
was  increased  by  the  purchase  of  an  adjoining  property.  But  the  location  was  confined 
and  unfavorable.  By  determined  and  generous  effort,  funds  were  obtained  to  build  a  new 
building  in  Fletcher  Street,  into  which  the  Home  was  removed,  after  fifteen  years'  exist- 
ence, in  1892.  The  Home  is  in  charge  of  a  Matron,  the  present  one  having  filled  the 
position  for  seventeen  years.  If  any  one  of  us  should  acquire  a  family  of  thirty-four 
members,  we  might  feel  a  reasonable  exultation  if  we  made  both  ends  meet,  after  paying 
taxes,  a  salary,  wages,  for  repairs,  food,  etc.,  out  of  forty-seven  hundred  dollars,  which  is 
the  annual  expenditure  at  this  Home  with  its  thirty-four  inmates. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  began  its  work  here  in  1S67.  It  occupied 
quarters  in  Barrister's  Hall  until  1889,  when  it  moved  into  its  present  property  in  Hurd 
Street.  The  attendance  here  averages  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred, 
daily,  all  the  year  round.  Its  financial  support  is  derived  from  its  membership  fees  and 
contributions  and  a  small  income  from  the  rental  of  its  third  floor.  Its  religious  work  is 
well  known.  Its  philanthropies  are  many.  It  offers  evening  educational  classes  in  prac- 
tical branches,  and  a  series  of  lectures,  concerts,  receptions,  and  social  entertainments 
during  the  winter  months.  Its  gymnasium  is  well  equipped,  and  in  charge  of  a  compe- 
tent instructor. 

In  1872  the  Humane  Society  was  organized  under  the  name  of  the  "  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals."  Its  agent,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  work  among 
animals,  discovered  great  need  of  attention  to  neglected  children  ;  and  in  1890  the  organ- 
ization changed  its  name  to  the  "  Humane  Society."  It  is  only  necessary  to  state  that 
twenty-five  hundred  cases  of  cruelty  have  been  investigated  in  one  year,  to  show  how 
much  has  been  accomplished.  Although  the  expenses  of  this  society  are  not  large,  there 
being  no  home  to  sustain,  it  needs  funds  to  carry  on  its  work.  How  gladly  would  it 
receive  money  to  supply  street  drinking-troughs  for  horses  and  dogs,  of  which  a  great 
lack  in  this  city  is  reported. 


DAY   NUR5ERY 


t-hitt  ehAr'bL 


Philanthropic  Institutions  of  LowcU  39 

With  the  rapid  growth  of  our  city,  it  became  evident  to  certain  philanthropic  men 
that  too  many  public  resorts  for  healthful  recreation  during  the  winter  months  could  not 
be  provided.  After  several  preliminary  meetings  to  consider  the  matter,  in  1872  it  was 
decided  to  open  rooms  for  reading  and  amusement,  which  should  be  called  the  "  People's 
Club,"  and  should  be  free  to  all.  In  accordance  with  the  above-named  object  has  this 
society  existed  and  grown  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  Courses  of  lectures  are  pro- 
vided here,  the  lecturers  from  among  our  best  scholars  and  thinkers.  In  1878  a  depart- 
ment for  women  was  organized  in  another  building,  which  has,  in  addition  to  the  above 
attractions,  classes  in  plain  sewing,  dressmaking,  and  millinery.  Thousands  of  men  and 
boys,  and  women  and  girls,  visit  these  rooms  in  the  course  of  each  year,  as  may  be  seen 
by  reference  to  the  records. 

Until  187s  there  was  no  public  charity  which  included  young  children  in  its  care,  and 
it  was  determined  that  the  want  should  be  supplied.  Some  zealous  philanthropists  made 
the  bold  venture  of  purchasing  the  "  Lawrence  estate  "  in  John  Street  for  the  purpose  of 
founding  a  "  Home  for  Young  Women  and  Children,"  and  the  Home  was  opened.  Its 
design  has  been  to  provide  temporary  assistance  to  its  inmates.  How  wide  its  benefits, 
long  years  of  useful  work  can  tell  us.  In  the  twenty-four  years  of  its  existence  it  has  had 
but  three  matrons,  the  present  one  having  had  the  care  for  twelve  years.  The  situation 
of  the  Home  in  a  crowded  business  street  was  ill  adapted  to  the  welfare  of  the  children 
within  its  walls;  and  when,  in  iSgr,  through  the  munificence  of  the  late  Mrs.  Josephine 
M.  Ayer  and  her  son,  Mr.  Frederick  F.  Ayer,  their  former  residence  and  an  adjoining 
one,  well  set  in  a  generous  garden  and  containing  much  valuable  furniture,  were  con- 
veyed to  their  home,  joy  reigned  within  it.  After  Mrs.  Ayer's  death,  in  189S,  her  will 
was  found  to  contain  a  legacy  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  sum  has  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees  for  its  future  use,  thus  making  a  beautiful  memorial  of 
a  most  generous  giver.  The  institution  is  now  known  as  the  "  Ayer  Home  for  Young 
Women  and  Children." 

The  year  1875  was  memorable  in  that  yet  another  home  was  provided  for  little 
homeless  waifs.  The  late  rector  of  St.  Anne's  Church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  Edson,  in 
this  year  founded  a  Home  for  Orphan  Boys  in  Anne  Street.  It  was  formally  incor- 
porated with  a  board  of  trustees  under  the  name  of  the  "  St.  Mary's  Orphanage,"  and 
its  support  was  provided  by  parishioners  of  St.  Anne's  Church  and  by  others  among  the 
numerous  friends  of  Dr.  Edson.  After  a  pastorate  of  nearly  sixty  years  Dr.  Edson  died, 
leaving  the  orphanage  without  legal  connection  with  St.  Anne's.  At  the  suggestion  of 
Rev.  Dr.  A.  St.  John  Chambre,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Edson,  the  parish  assumed  the  contin- 
uance and  support  of  the  Institution  after  its  legal  transfer,  making  it  a  perpetual  memo- 
rial of  their  late  rector  by  naming  it  the  "Theodore  Edson  Orphanage."  Boys  between 
the  ages  of  two  and  four  are  received  here  without  regard  to  the  religion  or  nationality  of 
their  parents,  and  retained,  unless  sooner  provided  for,  until  thirteen  years  of  age,  when 
suitable  homes  are  found  for  them.  A  matron  supervises  the  house,  and  is  responsible 
for  the  care  of  the  thirty  or  forty  children  which  it  can  accommodate.  It  has  accom- 
plished and  is  accomplishing  a  noble  work. 

Yet  another  Home  for  orphan  and  neglected  children  is  with  us.  It  was  opened  in 
Westford  Street,  April  3,  1884,  and  incorporated  in  the  same  year.  It  has  no  capital 
stock,  no  funds,  no  endowment.  Its  support  comes  only  from  the  voluntary  offerings  of 
those  interested  in  its  existence.     An  extended  system  of  book-keeping  is  not  required 


4°  The  Lowell  Book 

here,  where  the  year  1S98  opened  with  ^6.45  in  the  treasury,  and  the  receipt  of  $1  "in  a 
letter  from  Salem  "  was  an  event  to  be  chronicled.  In  the  quaint  old  house  where  this 
"  Faith  Home  "  is  established,  there  are,  to-day,  twenty  children  provided  with  a  Chris- 
tian home.  No  more  interesting  reading  could  be  provided  for  charitable  eyes  than 
the  little  booklet  giving  the  details  of  this  work. 

As  the  result  of  a  stirring  address  delivered  before  the  Associated  Charities  of 
Lowell  in  1885,  the  need  was  made  apparent  of  an  institution  where  working  mothers 
might  leave  their  young  children  in  safety  while  absent  from  their  homes.  A  committee 
of  those  interested  in  a  "  Day  Nursery  "  was  at  once  formed,  and  an  appeal  was  made  to 
the  public  for  the  modest  sum  of  ^300,  with  which  to  defray  the  first  year's  expenses. 
After  trying  several  locations  which  proved  inadequate  or  inconvenient,  a  house  in  Moody 
Street  was  rented  of  the  Merrimack  Company  in  1887;  and  here  the  Nursery  remained 
until  1891,  when  the  present  building  in  Kirk  Street  was  purchased,  proving  admirably 
adapted  for  this  charity.  In  1890  a  branch  Nursery  was  opened  in  Central  Street,  after- 
ward removed  to  Centralville ;  and  in  1895  land  was  purchased  in  First  Street,  and  a 
building  erected  especially  adapted  to  nursery  needs.  In  1S89  this  charity  obtained  a 
charter.  Its  primary  object  is  the  day  care  of  children.  The  nominal  fee  of  ten  cents  per 
day  is  required  for  each  child.  The  Nursery  is  open  at  half  past  five  each  morning,  after 
which  come  a  bath,  breakfast,  a  nap  in  a  quiet  crib-room,  dinner,  play-time,  and  an  early 
tea.     The  slightest  suspicion  of  illness  receives  immediate  medical  attention. 

In  1892  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was  incorporated,  its  object 
being  to  save  young  women.  It  occupies  its  original  rooms  in  Central  Street,  with  an 
average  attendance  of  one  hundred  each  day.  In  addition  to  its  religious  work,  it  has 
evening  classes,  where  twelve  different  subjects  are  taken  up  during  the  winter.  It  has 
an  employment  bureau,  and  a  lunch-room  upon  the  "  Holly  Tree  Inn  "  plan,  where  a  noon 
and  evening  meal  are  served,  of  substantial  materials,  at  a  low  price.  At  the  latter  there 
is  an  average  attendance  of  seventy  each  day. 

After  the  lapse  of  twenty-eight  years  since  the  founding  of  any  hospital  in  Lowell, 
the  growth  of  our  city  seemed  to  demand  an  institution  of  a  general  character  for  those  in 
our  midst  requiring  hospital  treatment.  As  a  result  of  various  meetings  to  discuss  the 
matter,  an  organization  was  formed;  and  in  1891  the  "Lowell  General  Hospital"  was  in- 
corporated. While  at  work  upon  the  difficult  problem  of  securing  a  site  for  the  institu- 
tion, one  of  the  trustees,  Mr.  James  K.  Fellows,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  offered  to  buy 
the  Fay  place  in  Varnum  Avenue  for  the  purpose,  as  a  gift.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
this  great  generosity  was  fully  appreciated  and  gratefully  accepted  by  our  citizens,  and  it 
was  voted  by  the  trustees  to  name  the  building  now  used  as  a  hospital  "  The  Fellows 
Building."  This  bounty  gave  a  wonderful  impetus  to  the  enterprise,  and  permitted  the 
opening  of  the  hospital  in  1893.  During  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  patients  were  admitted,  showing  conclusively  the  need  of  the  insti- 
tution. Since  its  establishment  more  than  one-half  of  its  patients  have  been  treated  free 
of  charge. 

Surely,  this  is  a  noble  record  for  a  city  like  ours,  consisting  so  largely  of  small  wage- 
earners. 

Mary  H.  C.  Rogers. 


m 


THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY. 

HE  City  Library  of  Lowell  was  established  by  the  City  Council  in  1844. 
Its  beginnings  were  small  at  first,  with  an  appropriation  of  ;^2,ooo,  in 
a  room  on  the  first  floor  of  the  old  City  Hall  building.  Later,  from  1872 
to  1893,  it  occupied  the  second  floor  of  the  business  building  known 
as  Hosford  Block.  It  was  made  a  free  library  in  1883.  In  1888,  with  a  view  to 
improving  its  eflSciency,  and  to  gain  authority  to  hold  property  for  its  benefit  and 
to  encourage  the  bestowal  of  gifts  and  benefactions,  the  Hon.  Charles  D.  Palmer  called 
the  attention  of  the  City  Council  to  the  desirability  of  having  an  incorporated  board 
of  trustees.  The  necessary  act  for  this  purpose  was  passed  by  the  legislature  and 
signed  by  the  governor  April  17,  1888,  vesting  the  government  of  the  library  in  the 
mayor  ex  officio  and  a  board  of  five  trustees. 

The  present  librarian,  Mr.  Frederick  A.  Chase,  was  appointed  July  i,  1891. 
In  May,  1893,  the  library  was  moved  to  the  new  Memorial  Building,  which  was  begun 
by  the  city  in  1890,  and  cost  ^175,000.  As  the  library  has  never  received  any  bequest 
in  money,  the  entire  cost  of  the  building,  equipment,  and  expense  of  running  it,  has 
come  from  the  city.  It  is  therefore  a  monument  to  the  generosity  of  the  city  and 
a  measure  of  the  intelligence  of  its  citizens.  Its  present  number  of  volumes  is  about 
60,000.  The  circulation  of  books  for  home  use  has  been  165,000.  As  an  auxiliary 
to  the  public  schools,  its  efficiency  is  shown  by  the  great  increase  in  the  number 
of  books  taken  out  for  use  in  the  schools  and  by  the  growing  appreciation  on  the 
part  of  teachers  of  the  special  privileges  granted  them.  As  an  auxiliary  of  the  Textile 
School  and  with  the  desire  to  promote  the  industries  of  our  city,  the  library  intends  to 
have  and  maintain  one  of  the  best-equipped  technical  libraries  in  the  country. 

Much  attention  has  been  paid  at  the  library  to  the  preparation  of  lists  of  books 
on  special  subjects.  These  lists  contain  annotations  and  descriptive  comments  on  the 
books  listed,  and  form  complete  bibliographies  of  the  contents  of  the  library  on  these 
special  subjects.  There  are  some  two  hundred  of  these  lists  already  prepared  in  the  form 
of  scrap-books  containing  printed  lists  or  cuttings.  From  the  material  thus  collected  the 
library  has  published  fifteen  bulletins  on  special  subjects.     More  are  to  follow. 

The  larger  accommodations  of  its  new  building  have  given  the  library  an  opportunity 
to  display  its  collections  of  photographs  and  plates.  Many  have  thus  been  able 
to  enjoy  important  works,  who  would  not  otherwise  see  them.  Fourteen  exhibitions  have 
been  held  in  an  unfinished  room  in  the  basement  of  the  library,  and  have  been  visited 
by  a  great  many  people  of  our  own  city  and  from  out  of  town.  The  educational  value  of 
such  exhibitions  need  not  be  enlarged  upon  here.  Many  have  wished  that  a  permanent 
art  exhibition  might  become  one  of  the  attractions  of  our  city;  for,  besides  the  collection 
of  Braun  photographs  and  portraits  in  our  library,  we  have  nothing  in  the  nature  of  an  art 
collection.  It  is  agreed  that  Lowell's  industrial  prospects  depend  on  her  ability  to  pro- 
duce high-class  goods.  The  influence  of  such  a  collection  in  raising  the  standard  of  taste 
in  our  artisan  class  would  be  of  great  value.  Such  a  collection  might  be  begun  with 
the  library  as  its  temporary  repository.  It  would  soon  become  a  source  of  attraction, 
and  of  much  educational  value.  If  the  leading  people  of  the  community,  by  their 
example  and  influence,  would  encourage  the  scheme,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
it  would  be  accomplished. 

Frederick  A.   Chase. 


ARTISTS  OF  LOWELL. 

"  In  framing  artists,  art  hath  thus  decreed, 
To  make  some  good,  but  others  to  exceed." 

NY  reference  to  the  city  of  Lowell  brings  almost  invariably  a  vision  of  busy 
factories  and  a  thought  of  the  place  which  their  products  give  her  in  the 
commercial  world.  But  the  whirring  looms,  the  towering  chimneys,  and 
the  strictly  commercial  atmosphere  of  the  city  have  not  altogether  repulsed 
the  Spirit  of  Art ;  for,  while  Lowell  cannot  boast  the  "  glory  that  was  Greece,"  she  has  a  roll 
of  honor  on  which  are  inscribed  names  which  the  artistic  world  has  hailed  with  acclaim. 
Margaret  Foley,  James  Abbott  McNeill  Whistler,  David  Neal,  William  Preston  Phelps, 
Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Whitman,  Alfred  Ordway,  Thomas  B.  Lawson, — all  these  artists  have 
been  identified  with  Lowell  at  various  periods  of  her  history. 

The  report  of  Whistler's  intended  visit  to  America  has  revived  the  discussion  regard- 
ing his  birthplace.  As  seven  cities  fought  for  Homer,  it  may  be  that  some  day  as  many 
cities  will  be  contending  for  Whistler,  since  already  Baltimore,  Belleville,  Stonington, 
and  St.  Petersburg,  as  well  as  Lowell,  claim  the  honor  of  his  nativity.  It  is  said  that 
Whistler  delights  in  keeping  up  the  mystery  ;  but  the  evidence  is  strong  that  he  first 
saw  the  light  in  Lowell.  His  father.  Major  George  Washington  Whistler,  a  graduate 
of  West  Point  and  an  engineer  of  note,  became  in  July,  1834,  the  chief  engineer  of  the 
Locks  and  Canals  Company  of  Lowell.  The  artist  was  born  —  probably  in  the  Paul 
Moody  house,  which  is  still  standing  in  Worthen  Street  —  on  July  11,  1834,  and  in  the 
parish  records  of  St.  Anne's  Episcopal  Church  his  baptism  is  recorded  thus  :  — 

JAMES    ABBOTT   T.    WHISTLER, 

Son  of  George  W.  &  Anna  M.  Whistler, 

Baptized  Nov.  9,   1834. 

Whistler  has  a  definite  place  in  the  world  of  art,  and  his  genius  seems  Protean. 
That  he  has  a  ready  pen  is  proved  by  his  books:  "The  Gentle  Art  of  Making  Ene- 
mies;" "The  Baron  and  the  Butterfly";  and  "Ten  O'clock."  His  etchings  number 
nearly  two  hundred  and  forty  plates,  and  the  finest  of  them  hold  their  own  with  those 
of  Rembrandt  and  other  masters  of  the  Dutch  school.  His  paintings  are  both  abused 
and  admired.  Some  of  his  portraits  are  considered  worthy  to  figure  beside  the  great 
works  of  Velasquez.  His  "Portrait  of  my  Mother,"  exhibited  at  London  in  1874,  is 
an  "arrangement  in  black  and  gray."  It  was  purchased  by  the  French  government, 
and  is  now  in  the  Luxembourg  Gallery  of  Paris. 

In  Middlesex  Street,  Lowell,  next  the  Highland  House,  is  standing  a  dilapidated,  one- 
storied  structure.  Here  was  born  in  1837  David  Neal;  and  here  he  lived  until  at  four- 
teen he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  owing  to  the  death  of  his  father.  Young 
Neal  went  first  to  New  Orleans,  and  afterward  to  San  Francisco,  where  he  was  employed 
several  years  as  a  draughtsman  on  wood.     He  received  his  artistic  stamp,  however,  at  the 


"rederick  H.  Greeiihalge. 

l\h 

Mother. 

Trumpeter. 

By  Sarah  W.    Whitman. 

liY   Whistler. 

By   Margaret   Foley 

Etching. 

Isabel  Nesmith. 

Phelps  Studio. 

By   Whistler. 

By   Alfred  O 

^D\\ 

AY. 

Cromwell  visiting  Milton 

Memorial  Window. 

Ky    David 

N 

EAL. 

By  Sarah  W.    Whitman 

Artists  of'Lowell  43 

old  academy  in  Munich ;  and  to  this  day  his  work  reveals  strongly  the  academic  lines,  and 
the  influence  of  his  masters,  Piloty  and  Kaulbach.  When  Neal's  first  great  painting, 
"  The  First  Meeting  of  Mary  Stuart  and  Rizzio,"  was  shown  at  Munich,  nearly  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  it  received  the  highest  award  from  the  royal  Academy,  Neal  being  the  first 
American  to  receive  this  honor.  In  1875  or  1876,  through  the  interest  of  the  Rev. 
Horatio  Wood,  who  had  known  Neal  in  his  boyhood,  this  picture  was  exhibited  in 
Mechanics'  Hall,  Lowell. 

Many  of  the  artist's  important  pictures  are  in  the  principal  galleries  of  Europe.  "  Oliver 
Cromwell  of  Ely  visits  John  Milton"  is  considered  his  masterpiece.  Neal  has  lived  in 
Munich  and  Paris,  has  visited  America  a  few  times  to  execute  portrait  commissions,  and 
has  added  several  portraits  to  the  art  treasures  of  his  native  city,  among  them  those  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  Talbot,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Nesmith,  Mr.  Thomas  Nesmith,  and 
Mrs.  H.  W.  Felton. 

The  original  study  of  "Mary  Stuart  and  Rizzio,"  and  "The  Courtyard  of  Titian's 
House  in  Venice,"  grace  the  walls  of  the  reception-room  of  Colonial  Hall,  the  home  of  the 
Middlesex  Women's  Club  of  Lowell. 

Margaret   Foley  was   called  the  "pioneer  sculptress  of  America."      Of   her  Lucy 

Larcom  wrote, — 

"  That  broad-browed,  delicate  girl  will  carve  at  Rome 
Faces  in  marble,  classic  as  her  own." 

Miss  Foley  lived  many  years  in  Lowell,  working  for  a  year  or  more  in  a  spinning- 
room  of  the  Merrimack  Corporation.  It  is  said  that  the  overseer  of  the  room,  Mr.  Walter 
Wright,  observing  her  clever  carving  of  figures  and  faces  on  the  bobbins,  advised  her 
to  follow  art  as  her  career.  Miss  Foley  was  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  Lowell  Offer- 
ing-—  "a  repository  of  original  articles,  written  exclusively  by  females  actively  employed 
in  the  mills"  —  which  was  published  from  1S40  to  1848.  She  seems  to  have  been 
entirely  self-taught  as  a  sculptress,  beginning  her  career  in  a  very  humble  way,  by  the 
carving  of  small  figures  in  wood  and  the  modelling  of  busts  in  chalk.  From  1853  to 
1854  she  was  the  preceptress  of  Westford  Academy,  where  she  roused  the  wrath  of  the 
preceptor  by  cutting  cameos  during  school  hours.  While  at  Westford,  she  modelled  a 
bust  of  Dr.  Oilman  Kimball,  a  distinguished  physician  of  Lowell,  and  made  on  paper  a 
political  caricature,  amusing  enough  to  be  still  remembered  by  residents  of  Westford. 
Later  she  opened  a  studio  in  Boston,  carving  portraits  and  ideal  heads  in  cameo  and 
modelling  a  few  busts.  Her  cameo-cutting  (in  which  she  had  some  instruction  from  Mr. 
T.  A.  Carew,  of  Dorchester,  father  of  Mrs.  James  Francis,  of  Lowell)  was  said  to  be 
unsurpassed.  After  seven  years  of  this  work  she  went  to  Rome,  where  the  rest  of  her 
professional  life  was  spent.  The  Young  Trumpeter,  one  of  her  best  works,  was  bought 
by  Mrs.  John  Nesmith,  of  Lowell. 

For  nearly  fifty  years  Thomas  B.  Lawson,  a  native  of  Newburyport,  made  his 
home  in  Lowell,  where  he  died  in  1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  Mr.  Lawson's  repu- 
tation as  a  portrait-painter  reached  beyond  the  bounds  of  New  England.  Many 
distinguished  men  sat  for  him,  among  them  Webster,  Clay,  Cushing,  Garrison,  and 
Whittier.  His  portrait  of  Webster  has  been  copied  again  and  again  on  account  of 
its  accurate  likeness.  Many  of  the  portraits  of  the  mayors  of  Lowell,  which  adorn 
the  walls  of  the  City  Hall,  are  from  the  skilful  hand  of  Mr.  Lawson.  He  was  a 
most  entertaining  companion.     His  acquaintance  with  celebrated  men,  his   remarkable 


44 


The  Lowell  Book 


memory,  his  fondness  for  literary  pursuits,  his  genial  ways,  his  love  of  anecdote,  all 
made  his  conversation  peculiarly  entertaining  and  instructive. 

Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Whitman,  now  of  Boston,  lived  in  Lowell  during  her  girlhood. 
Her  father  was  William  W.  Wyman,  the  second  postmaster  of  the  city.  Mrs. 
Whitman,  who  was  a  pupil  of  William  M.  Hunt,  has  painted  portraits  of  emi- 
nent men, —  notably.  Bishop  Brooks  and  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  Her  work 
in  the  designing  of  book  covers  is  especially  good ;  and  she  has  made  the  designs  for 
at  least  two  splendid  memorial  windows,  one  in  Memorial  Hall,  Cambridge,  in  memory 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  Brimmer,  of  Boston,  and  one  in  St.  Anne's  Church  at  Kennebunk- 
port.  Me.,  in  memory  of  Miss  Elizabeth  O.  Robbins,  of  Lowell. 

Alfred  Ordvvay  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  1821,  and  died  at  Boston,  1897. 
Most  of  his  early  life  was  spent  in  Lowell,  where  his  father  held  the  position  of 
city  clerk  for  many  years.  Mr.  Ordway  studied  portrait  painting  under  the  famous 
G.  P.  A.  Healy,  and  made  such  progress  that  he  was  selected  to  paint  the  portraits 
of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  for  the  Lowell  Museum,  which  was  shortly 
after  destroyed  by  fire.  In  1845  Mr.  Ordway  opened  a  studio  on  Tremont  Row, 
Boston.  He  founded  the  Boston  Art  Club  (of  which  he  was  secretary,  treasurer,  and 
president),  and  from  1856  to  1863  was  director  of  the  exhibitions  of  paintings  at  the 
Boston  Athenaeum.  Mr.  Ordway  was  a  portrait  painter  of  great  merit  before  he  became 
known  for  his  landscapes.  He  may  be  classed  as  a  landscape  painter  of  the  old  school, 
a  painter  of  New  England  scenery.  There  is  a  quiet  charm  in  all  his  pictures,  with 
their  mountain  streams  and  green  valleys,  their  clear  pools  with  overhanging  trees,  their 
fields  of  wheat,  with  the  eternal  hills  and  peaceful  villages  in  the  distance. 

William  Preston  Phelps,  "  the  painter  of  Monadnock,"  was  born  in  New  Hampshire, 
in  that  part  of  Dublin  which  is  now  Cheshani.  Before  he  was  twenty,  he  came  to  Lowell, 
where  he  began  life  as  a  sign  painter,  his  work  in  that  line  attracting  much  attention. 
Later  he  devoted  himself  to  landscape  painting,  entirely  without  a  master.  Through  the 
kindness  of  several  Lowell  gentlemen,  he  was  enabled  to  go  to  Germany  in  1875  ;  and  for 
three  years  he  remained  in  Munich  as  a  pupil  of  Velten.  Then  he  travelled  through  the 
most  picturesque  portions  of  Germany,  Italy,  and  France,  making  studies  of  landscape  and 
of  peasant  life.  He  spent  one  season  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  painting  some  of  his 
most  striking  pictures  of  foreign  subjects,  and  in  18S2  he  returned  to  Lowell.  Some 
years  ago  Mr.  Phelps  returned  to  his  native  town,  having  come  into  possession  of  his  old 
homestead.  His  house  occupies  a  pleasant  position  on  a  hill,  on  the  main  road  to  Dub- 
lin. Across  the  road  stands  the  picturesque  studio  where  he  delights  to  depict  Monad- 
nock scenery.  Some  of  his  larger  pictures  are  painted  under  the  sky  of  this  beautiful 
region  of  Monadnock,  of  which  one  of  Lowell's  poets,  James  E.  Nesmith,  wrote:  — 


'  From  field  and  fold  aloof  he  stands, 
A  lonely  peak  in  peopled  lands, 
Rock-ridged  above  his  wooded  bands. 


'  The  gloom  about  the  mountain's  base 
Crawls  up  and  falls  upon  his  face, 
His  form  grows  faint  in  night's  embrace. 


'  All  day  the  purple  shadows  dream 
Along  his  slopes  or  upward  stream ; 
And  shafts  of  golden  sunlight  gleam. 


'  The  trailing  glories  droop  and  die 
Along  the  lake  where  they  did  lie, 
And  the  wild  light  forsakes  the  sky." 


Adelaide  Baker. 


WOMEN'S  CLUBS  IN  LOWELL. 

'N  the  thirty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  Sorosis  and  the  New  England 
Women's  Club  came  into  being,  the  club  movement  has  been  developing 
slowly,  but  surely,  gaining  strength  of  purpose  and  breadth  of  thought  with 
every  decade,  until  now  at  the  end  of  the  century  the  Women's  Club  in 
every  community,  the  State  Federation  in  each  Commonwealth,  the  General  Federation 
with  its  two  thousand  clubs,  are  all  working  for  what  is  finest  in  culture,  highest  in  edu- 
cation, and  wisest  in  philanthropy. 

It  is  matter  for  congratulation  that  Lowell  has  not  lagged  behind  in  the  procession. 
Since  the  days  when  the  Lowell  Offeting  made  the  mill  girls  famous,  the  women  of 
Lowell  have  been  notable  for  their  ability,  their  energy,  their  interest  in  the  public  wel- 
fare, and  their  success  in  organized  endeavor.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  in 
this  city,  as  in  so  many  other  communities,  that  there  have  existed  for  years  small  clubs 
and  study  classes,  several  of  which  are  still  maintained  with  interest  and  vigor. 

These  Lowell  Clubs  have  been  described  more  than  once,  and  their  history  need  not 
now  be  repeated.  The  XV.  Club,  which  celebrated  its  thirtieth  anniversary  in  April, 
1899,  the  Fortnightly,  the  Tuesday  Club,  the  Round  Table,  the  Kensington,  and  the 
Women's  Educational  Club,  are  the  best  known,  and  all  have  honorable  records. 

The  active  interest  taken  by  the  women  of  Lowell  in  the  fortunes  and  mis- 
fortunes of  the  Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association  should  not  be  overlooked  in  this  con- 
nection, culminating  as  it  did,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  in  the  formation  of  the  "  Art 
Annex,"  an  association  which  lived  long  enough  to  make  many  valuable  additions  to  the 
library.  The  History  Club,  also  connected  with  the  Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association 
and  the  Lowell  Art  Association,  were  short-lived,  but  most  interesting  organizations,  in 
which  men  and  women  shared  equally  in  the  membership  and  management.  Among  the 
leaders  in  these  various  movements  for  the  elevation  of  public  standards  of  culture,  we 
call  to  mind,  of  those  no  longer  living.  Governor  Greenhalge,  Elizabeth  Robbins,  Eliza 
Braley,  T.  B.  Lawson,  and  Mrs.  D.  S.  Richardson,  as  generous  contributors  of  their 
time  and  talents. 

When  in  1893-94  the  club  movement  gained  such  impetus  from  the  success  of  the 
General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  a  few  Lowell  women  were  called  together  to  con- 
sider the  advisability  of  forming  a  club ;  and  soon  after  a  constitution  and  by-laws  were 
adopted,  a  board  of  officers  elected,  and  on  July  2,  1894,  the  Middlesex  Women's  Club  of 
Lowell  came  into  existence,  and  held  its  first  meeting  on  October  i,  of  the  same  year. 

The  constitution  provided  for  a  department  club,  and  a  system  of  committees  which 
at  once  insured  a  comprehensive  scheme  of  work  on  the  lines  of  sociology,  education, 
literature,  art,  science,  history,  and  hospitality.  The  objects  of  the  club  were  declared  to 
be  "to  form  a  recognized  centre  for  social  and  mental  culture;  to  further  the  education 
of  women  for  the  responsibilities  of  life ;  to  encourage  all  movements  for  the  betterment 
of  society ;  and  to  foster  a  generous  public  spirit  in  the  community."  The  membership, 
at  first  limited  to  two  hundred  and  fifty,  was  soon  raised  to  four  hundred.     A  hall  and  a 


46  The  Lowell  Book 

suite  of  rooms  were  fitted  up  on  Palmer  Street;  and  in  November,  1894,  the  Middlesex 
Women's  Club  went  to  housekeeping.  Four  years  later,  by  the  erection  of  Colonial  Hall 
in  the  building  adjacent  to  the  club-rooms,  the  Middlesex  Club  came  into  possession  of 
an  exceptionally  fine  auditorium.  This  made  possible  a  further  increase  of  membership, 
to  the  present  limit  of  six  hundred,  and  in  several  ways  has  enlarged  the  scope  of  club 
work. 

The  success  of  the  Middlesex  Women's  Club,  as  "  a  recognized  centre  of  social  and 
mental  culture,"  has  been  acknowledged  from  the  very  first.  The  unflagging  enthusiasm  of 
its  members,  and  the  ever-increasing  respect  and  approval  of  the  community  bear  testi- 
mony that  its  success  rests  upon  no  ephemeral  foundation.  One  element  of  that  success 
lies  in  the  unselfish  devotion  and  untiring  industry  of  its  officers  and  committees,  and  in 
the  high  average  of  character  and  of  intelligence  found  in  its  membership. 

Another  element  of  success  is  the  scheme  of  organization  which  provides  for  an  ad- 
ministration in  which  the  responsibility  is  divided  among  many  committees,  but  at  the 
same  time  is  centralized  by  a  constant  correlation  between  their  work.  Over  eighty  club 
members  are  actively  engaged  on  committees  every  year ;  but  all  their  work  is  brought  to 
a  focus  in  the  two  central  committees.  Finance  and  Program,  upon  which  finally  rests  the 
responsibility  for  the  welfare  and  the  progress  of  the  club. 

Perhaps  the  most  evident  reason  for  the  success  of  the  Middlesex  Club  may  be 
found  in  the  excellent  work  of  its  Program  Committee.  The  brilliant  programs  arranged 
by  this  committee  have  introduced  to  the  club  famous  authors,  explorers,  and  scientists, 
distinguished  professors  and  specialists  in  many  lines.  But  the  most  important  work  of 
the  committee  has  been  to  correlate  the  work  of  the  several  departments,  and  to  gradu- 
ally bring  the  club  programs  into  harmony  with  university  extension  ideas.  In  providing 
courses  of  lectures  by  acknowledged  experts,  the  aim  has  been  to  concentrate  the  atten- 
tion of  the  club  upon  certain  definite  lines  of  thought,  and  thus  to  stimulate  independent 
study  by  the  members.  Already  the  good  results  of  this  policy  are  apparent  in  the 
increasing  interest  and  enthusiasm  with  which  the  club  members  carry  on  the  work  of 
the  departments. 

Being  pledged  by  its  constitution,  not  only  "to  further  the  education  of  women  for 
the  responsibilities  of  life,"  but  also  "  to  encourage  all  movements  for  the  betterment  of 
society,"  the  Middlesex  Club  established  in  1899  a  summer  playground  for  children, 
which  was  carried  on  successfully  for  six  weeks,  under  the  superintendence  of  a  club  com- 
mittee. This  practical  work  in  sociology  so  enthusiastically  supported  by  the  club,  and 
so  significant  in  its  results,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  children  immediately  benefited, 
but  to  the  whole  scheme  of  public  education,  is  the  latest  and,  to  some  minds,  the  most 
valuable  outcome  of  the  work  of  the  club ;  but  to  many  it  is  evident  that  the  mere  exist- 
ence of  the  club,  and  its  influence  upon  its  own  members  in  the  development  of  individual 
thought  and  character,  constitute  its  greatest  power  in  the  community, —  a  power  indi- 
rectly exerted,  but  widely  diffused  and  having  an  importance  hardly  to  be  overestimated, 
as  throughout  a  constantly  widening  circle  it  is  ever  "touching  life  with  upward  impulse." 

Helen  A.  Whittier. 


PATRIOTIC  ORGANIZATIONS. 


'T  is  but  natural  that  a  city  which  possesses,  as  Lowell  does,  such  an  honorable 
record  for  patriotism,  always  among  the  first  when  the  nation  has  called  to 
arms,  the  home  of  the  heroes  Ladd  and  Whitney, —  killed  on  the  very  thres- 
hold of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, —  should  abound  in  organizations  of  a  patri- 
otic nature.  There  are  so  many  associations  in  the  city  entitled  to  be  enrolled  under  this 
head  that  it  is  possible  in  a  short  space  barely  to  mention  them,  without  extended  com- 
ment. Some  are  composed  of  men  bound  together  by  the  ties  growing  out  of  long  cam- 
paigning on  sea  and  land,  or  of  women  who  bore  woman's  part  in  the  struggles  that  have 
passed  into  the  nation's  history.  Others  there  be  made  up  of  those  whose  ancestors 
went  from  this  vicinity  to  the  wars  which  established  our  independence  or  upheld  our 
national  unity.  Few  societies  which  have  not  had  this  substantial  basis  of  actual  history 
have  been  able  to  maintain  their  organizations  and  ideals  ;  though  there  have  been  several 
which  started  with  patriotic  platforms,  only  to  drift  into  the  various  political  parties. 

To  a  by-gone  day  belongs  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati.  It  was  a  fraternity  of  men 
who  left  their  ploughs,  like  Cincinnatus  of  ancient  Rome,  and  were  called  to  battle  for 
independence  of  the  English  crown.  It  was  founded  in  1783  by  the  surviving  officers  of 
the  colonial  army,  "to  perpetuate  friendship  and  "  —  since  pensions  were  not  ample  in 
those  days —  "to  raise  a  fund  for  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  slain,"  thus  being  a  fore- 
runner of  the  organizations  with  which  we  of  a  modern  day  are  familiar.  Particularly 
was  the  name  appropriate  in  the  case  of  the  farmers  of  old  Chelmsford,  whom  the  min- 
ute-guns called  from  their  toil  to  exchange  the  peaceful  fields  of  the  Merrimack  valley 
for  the  more  warlike  scenes  at  Concord  and  Lexington. 

To  the  memory  of  the  deeds  of  these  ancient  heroes  there  have  lately  arisen  the 
societies  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution.  And,  though  Lowell 
was  not  dreamed  of  at  the  time  of  that  war,  the  city  now  has  a  large  number  of  citizens 
descended  from  Revolutionary  ancestors,  sufficiently  large,  in  fact,  to  make  her  representa- 
tion in  the  organizations  named  the  second  in  size  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  Dr. 
M.  G.  Parker  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  "  Old  Middle- 
sex" chapter  of  the  Sons,  while  Mrs.  Thomas  Nesmith 
is  regent  of  the  "  Molly  Varnum  "  chapter  of  Daughters. 
The  desire  and  aim  of  these  organizations  is  to  preserve 
the  records  of  our  first  war,  which,  owing  to  the  lapse 
of  time,  are  likely  otherwise  to  be  forgotten  ;  and  to 
mark  the  spots,  as  far  as  may  be,  where  notable  events 
occurred  during  the  colonial  struggle.  Furthermore,  it 
is  felt  that  the  great  national  holidays  are  no  longer 
celebrated  in  the  right  spirit ;  and  it  has  been  suggested 
that  some  effort  on  the  part  of  these  organizations  may 
correct  the  practice  which  has  degenerated  the  "  glori- 
ous Fourth  "  into  a  season  of  meaningless  noise,  rather 
dreaded  than  revered  by  the  generality  of  mankind.  As  an  instance  that  this  com- 
mendable object  of  the  societies  is  not  neglected,  note  that  on  the  17th  of  June,  1899, — 


Chelmsford  Bowlder. 


^8  The  Lowell  Book 

a  holiday  too  little  observed  outside  the  immediate  precincts  of  Bunker  Hill,— the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  Revolution  unveiled  a  huge  bowlder  at  Chelmsford,  as  a  monument  recalling 
by  appropriate  inscription  that  from  that  spot  the  farmers  of  the  town  set  out  for  the 
Concord  f^ght,  in  response  to  the  minute-guns  on  the  "  19th  of  April,  in  75-  ^  he 
organizations  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  are  thus  actively  at  work,  and  among  other 
commendable  objects  are  at  present  trying  to  secure  legislation  to  prevent  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  flag  by  unscrupulous  advertisers.  From  a  comparatively  obscure  beginning 
in  California  the  movement  has  now  spread  over  the  entire  country ;  and  nowhere  is  its 
work  more  efficient  than  right  here  in  Massachusetts,  so  rich  in  colonial  memories. 

But  the  organization  which  is.  perhaps,  best  known  to  us  of  the  present  day  is  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  Here  again  can  Lowell  claim  large  honor ;  for,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  her  great  contributions  of  men  and  leaders,  the  Grand  Army  repre- 
sentation here  has  always  been,  and  still  continues,  large  and  creditable,  and  active  even 
in  these  years,  when  so  many  of  the  veterans  are  enfeebled  by  advancing  age.  As  to  its 
history,  the  Grand  Army  took  its  origin  in  Decatur,  111.,  in  1866,  and  is  open  to  all  en- 
listed men  who  served  the  Union  arms  during  any  part  of  the  period  of  the  war.  Lowell 
has  now  three  Posts,  with  their  affiliated  organizations  of  the  Woman's  Relief  Corps  and 
Ladies  of  the  GAR.  At  the  present  writing  the  B.  F.  Butler  Encampment,  Post  42,  is 
commanded  by  John  J.  Dolan,  and  its  membership  is  somewhat  over  three  hundred; 
Tames  A.  Garfield  Encampment,  Post  120,  is  commanded  by  S.  C.  Smiley;  and  the  Ladd 
and  Whitney,  Post  185,  is  headed  by  J.  Adams  Bartlett.  The  latter  Post  is  the  youngest 
of  the  three,  and  was  founded  in  April,  1886. 

Affiliated  with  Posts  42  and  120  are  bodies  of  the  Woman's  Relief  Corps,  bearing 
names  similar  with  the  Posts.  There  are  also  two  circles  of  the  Ladies  of  the  G-  A.  R. 
one  bearing  the  name  of  Ladd  and  Whitney,  and  the  other  known  as  the  J.  P.  Maxfie  d 
circle.      These  associations  of  women   do  a  great   deal  of   active   work,  and   are   ably 

officered.  1       f  ^u         f 

The  destroyer  Time,  however,  yearly  makes  greater  inroads  on  the  ranks  ot  the  vet- 
erans of  the  Civil  War  ;  and  it  will  one  day  be  left  for  their  sons  to  preserve  the  traditions 
of  the  fathers  To  this  end  the  Sons  of  Veterans  have  a  camp  in  Lowell ;  and  there  are 
members  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  an  organization  of  veterans  to  which  the  eldest  sons  may 

also  aspire.  ^  ,  ,  a         ■  ..■         c 

A  narrowing  space  must  not  preclude  a  mention  of  the  Dahlgren  Association  ot 
Naval  Veterans,  which  maintains  its  activity  and  occasionally  entertains  a  famous  tar  hke 
Admiral  Belknap  or  Gunner  Charette.  Then  there  are  such  well-known  local  organiza- 
tions as  the  Richardson  Light  Infantry  and  the  Seventh  Battery  Associates,  which  meet 
every  year  in  more  or  less  close  proximity  for  their  several  reunions.  Nor  can  one  forget 
the  Union  Veterans'  Union  nor  the  Veterans'  Protective  League,  to  which  many  of  the 
members  of  foregoing  associations  belong. 

There  is  also  an  organization  of  the  Veterans  of  the  Mexican  War,  not  very  numer- 
ous, perhaps,  by  contrast,  but  ably  presided  over  by  President  John  P.  Searle. 

These  to  the  writer's  knowledge,  are  the  principal  patriotic  societies  in  the  city,  past 
and  present.  It  remains  for  those  who  served  in  our  late  war  with  Spam,  and  for  those 
who  shall  survive  the  present  conflict  with  the  rebellious  Filipinos,  to  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  their  sires,  and  organize  for  the  preservation  of  their  friendship  and  the  protection 
of  their  rights,  even  as  did  the  Cincinnati  of  long  ago.  ^^^^^^  ^    Marden. 


THE  OLD  RESIDENTS'  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION. 


Stone. 


THE  main  purpose  for  which  the  Association  exists  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  words  of  Article  II.  of  its  Constitution ; 
namely,  "  The  objects  of  this  Association  shall  be  to  collect, 
arrange,  preserve,  and  perhaps  from  time  to  time  publish,  any 
facts  relating  to  the  history  of  the  city  of  Lowell,  as  also  to 
gather  and  keep  all  printed  and  written  documents,  as  well 
as  traditional  evidence  of  every  description,  relating  to  the 
city." 

This  Association  is  unpretentious  in  its  character,  and  its 
proceedings  are  devoid  of  novelty  and  everything  which 
might  be  considered  sensational.  The  objects  of  its  attain- 
ment are  somewhat  unique  ;  and  its  membership  is  composed 
of  individuals  who  are  moved  by  a  common  desire  to  per- 
petuate in  tangible  form,  as  far  as  possible,  the  data  of  the 
incidents  and  the  enterprise  which  have  promoted  the  de- 
velopment and  growth  of  the  city  of  Lowell  from  the  time 
of  its  beginning  as  a  town  through  the  various  stages  of  its 
enlargement  and  prosperity. 

This  Association  may  truthfully  be  regarded  as  the  result 
of  a  conversation  which  took  place  in  August,  1868,  between  the  late  Mr.  Z.  E.  Stone, 
then  editor  of  the  Vox  Populi,  and  the  late  Mr.  Samuel  Fay,  then  superintendent  of  the 
Lowell  Manufacturing  Company.  During  this  conversation  it  was  suggested  that  it  would 
be  an  excellent  idea  to  have  certain  papers  prepared  by  some  of  the  early  residents  of 
Lowell,  giving  a  description  of  the  city  or  town  as  it  was  when  they  came  here  and  during 
the  period  of  its  development,  connecting  therewith  their  own  personal  experiences,  and 
to  have  such  papers  read  publicly,  at  meetings  to  be  called  for  this  purpose,  and  then  to 
have  these  papers  preserved,  and  in  this  way  lay  the  foundation  for  a  local  historical 
society  for  the  preservation  of  many  important  facts,  which  previously  had  only  existed  in 
the  memories  of  certain  individuals.  Probably,  when  Mr.  Fay  made  this  suggestion,  he 
had  no  idea  that  it  would  be  considered  as  anything  more  than  an  incidental  remark. 
But  it  awakened  serious  thoughts  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Stone.  He  considered  it  carefully, 
and  determined  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  whether  there  might  not  be  others  who  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  subject  which  interested  him  so  much.  Accordingly,  in  the  issue  of 
the  Vox  Populi  of  Sept.  4,  1868,  under  the  heading  "Our  Oldest  Inhabitants,"  Mr.  Stone 
expressed  his  views  at  length. 

Appended  to  this  article  there  was  a  list  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  names  of  prom- 
inent citizens,  whom  Mr.  Stone  considered  as  affording  abundant  material  for  the  for- 
mation of  such  an  organization  as  he  had  suggested. 

On  the  nth  of  September  another  article  on  the  same  subject  appeared  in  the  Vox 
Populi,  and  still  another  in  the  issue  of  that  paper  of  October  9,  both  written  by  Mr. 
Stone. 

By  this  time  considerable  attention  had  been  directed  to  the  matter  by  the  citizens 
of  Lowell.     The  late  Mr.  Edward  B.  Howe  was  very  much  interested  in  the  subject. 

Finally,  it  was  agreed  to  issue  a  notice  for  a  meeting  of  a  few  of  the  long-time  resi- 


5°  The  Lowell  Book 

dent  citizens  "at  the  book-store  of  Joshua  Merrill,  Esq.,  No.  37  Merrimack  Street,  on  Sat- 
urday evening,  November  21,  at  8  o'clock,"  at  which  meeting  this  movement  would  be 
freely  discussed.  Hildreth  Block  now  stands  on  the  site  of  the  book-store  of  Mr. 
Merrill  mentioned  above.  The  meeting  was  fully  attended.  It  was  called  to  order  by 
Mr.  E.  B.  Patch.  Mr.  George  Brownell  was  chosen  chairman,  and  Mr.  Z.  E.  Stone  was 
chosen  secretary.  In  an  historical  sketch,  read  before  the  Old  Residents'  Association 
Dec.  21,  1893,  Mr.  Stone,  in  describing  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  says:  "The 
chairman,  a  rather  large,  portly  gentleman,  was  not  conspicuous  enough  on  the  floor, 
■  among  those  who  had  conferred  on  him  the  honors  of  ofifice.  He  was  therefore  requested 
to  go  behind  the  counter ;  and  there,  standing  on  a  box,  dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority, 
he  governed  and  directed  the  first  meeting  of  the  Old  Residents'  Association  of  Lowell." 

In  accordance  with  a  published  formal  notice  a  second  public  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Citizens'  Committee  Room,  Huntington  Hall,  on  the  19th  of  December.  The 
committee-room  proved  to  be  too  small  for  the  number  of  people  interested  in  the 
enterprise,  and  hence  the  meeting  adjourned  to  meet  in  Jackson  Hall  on  the  following 
Monday  evening.  At  this  adjourned  meeting  there  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  present.  Dr.  Green  presented  the  report  of  his  committee, 
which  was  adopted.  The  original  manuscript  of  this  report  is  still  in  existence.  The 
following  gentlemen  were  then  chosen  as  officers  of  the  Association  :  John  O.  Green, 
president ;  A.  L.  Brooks,  vice-president ;  Z.  E.  Stone,  secretary  and  treasurer ;  executive 
committee:  Ward  One,  James  B.  Francis,  Edward  Tufts;  Two,  Joshua  Merrill,  J.  P. 
Jewett ;  Three,  Hapgood  Wright,  E.  B.  Patch;  Four,  E.  F.  Watson,  Benjamin  Walker; 
Five,  J.  G.  Peabody,  Charles  Morrill ;  Si.x,  J.  K.  Chase,  E.  B.  Howe. 

Thus  the  Old  Residents'  Historical  Association  with  about  eighty-five  names  on 
its  roll  of  membership  was  launched  into  existence,  to  take  its  chance  as  an  institution 
"for  richer  or  for  poorer,  for  better  or  for  worse,"  as  time  and  events  might  determine. 

Thirty  years  have  elapsed  since  Dr.  Green  made  his  first  address  as  president  at 
the  first  annual  meeting  of  this  Association,  May  3,   1869. 

The  same  books  which^Mr.  Stone,  the  first  secretary  of  the  Association,  was  au- 
thorized to  procure  and  use  are  used  by  the  secretary  of  this  Association  to-day. 

There  have  been  but  very  few  amendments  to  the  Constitution  as  originally  adopted, 
the  principal  one  being  the  amendment  adopted  in  1893,  which  makes  the  eligibility  to 
membership  depend  on  the  age  limit  of  twenty-one  years,  and  the  residential  limit  fifteen 
years. 

Another  generation  of  "  old  residents "  is  now  in  the  management  and  member- 
ship of  this  useful  Association,  which  now  has  about  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  names 
on   its  roll. 

Another  generation  is  actively  trying  to  add  to  its  valuable  collection  of  manuscripts, 
books,  newspapers,  etc.,  other  manuscripts,  books,  newspapers,  and  historical  material 
of  which  this  Association  is  the  sole  and  appropriate  custodian. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  brief  sketch  the  writer  had  been  led  to  reflect  upon  the 
stalwart  character  and  the  public  spirit  of  many  of  the  splendid  men  who  were  active  and 
influential  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  our  prosperous  city  in  the  days  of  its 
infancy  and  its  youth.  Their  names  are  memories  now.  But  their  standard  of  citizen- 
ship was  high,  and  the  motives  which  governed  their  conduct  were  unselfish  and  pure. 
Is  not  their  example  an  object-lesson  to-day.' 

Solon  W.  Stevens, 


VOLUNTEER  AID  ASSOCIATIONS. 

^ITH  a  beneficent  patriotism  which  seems  almost  instinctive,  we  see  the  men 
and  women  of  our  times  emulating  the  noble  example  of  their  historic 
ancestors  of  1775.  Scarcely  had  the  daring  exploit  of  Lowell's  son,  Cap- 
tain, afterward  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Gustavus  V.  Fox,  for  the  relief 
of  Fort  Sumter  (April  6,  1861)  become  known,  than  a  movement  was  set  on  foot  by 
Judge  Crosby  and  nineteen  other  men  for  the  formation  of  a  society  to  collect  funds  and 
necessary  supplies  ;  to  supply  nurses  ;  to  bring  home  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  ;  purchase 
clothing,  provisions,  and  comforts  ;  and  to  send  an  agent  to  the  camps  for  distributing 
the  same ;  also  to  care  for  the  families  at  home  of  those  men  who  had  gone  to  war.  Such, 
in  brief,  was  the  formation  of  what  is  claimed  to  be  the  first  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  the 
Civil  War.  To  Judge  Crosby  and  his  associates  can  be  given  the  credit  of  formulating 
the  first  definite  plan  of  concerted  action  in  relief  work, —  a  plan  which  later  grew  into  one 
of  the  noblest  of  modern  philanthropy,  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission.  It 
was  also  the  beginning  of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission. 

The  Lowell  organization  continued  throughout  the  war,  furnishing  supplies  and 
money  in  large  amounts.  Late  in  1862  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  had 
on  hand  an  almost  inexhaustible  supply  of  foods,  garments,  etc.,  for  the  camps,  yet  was 
unable  to  forward  the  same  on  account  of  lack  of  ready  money  needed  for  the  transpor- 
tation. The  situation  looked  discouraging,  but  Lowell  was  destined  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  In  the  fertile  mind  of  scholarly  Miss  Elizabeth  Olive  Robbins  originated  the 
plan  of  holding  fairs  to  raise  money  for  the  relief  of  the  Sanitary  Commission.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  in  January,  1863,  at  the  home  of  the  Misses  Robbins  on  East  Merrimack 
Street.  As  the  project  grew,  and  others  caught  the  ennobling  spirit  of  Miss  Robbins, 
a  committee  was  formed,  consisting  of  H.  Hosford,  chairman,  W.  F.  Salmon,  secretary, 
E.  B.  Patch,  George  Ripley,  H.  H.  Wilder,  Isaac  Place,  Abiel  Rolfe,  E.  F.  Sherman, 
Jacob  Rogers,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Francis,  Mrs.  John  Nesmith,  Mrs.  C.  P.  Talbot,  Mrs.  George 
Hedrick,  Miss  Elizabeth  Robbins,  and  Miss  Hinckley.  The  fair  was  held  in  Huntington, 
Jackson,  and  Wentworth  Halls,  Feb.  26,  27,  28,  1863. 

The  president  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  wrote :  "  The  zeal  and 
liberality  of  your  community  have  been  conspicuous  at  every  turn  of  the  war.  .  .  .  You 
will  make  it  very  difficult  for  any  community  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  keep 
pace  with  you,  now  that  you  pour  into  our  treasury  forty-eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
($4,850.00)."  Thus  resulted  the  first  great  fair  in  aid  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  held 
during  the  Civil  War.     A  lasting  tribute  to  her  of  whom  Governor  Greenhalge  wrote, — 

"  The  passing  of  as  sweet  a  soul 
As  ever  looked  with  human  eyes." 

Some  one  has  said  that  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example,  the  truth  of  which 
we  find  in  the  War  of  1898.  The  first  call  of  President  McKinley  for  volunteers,  April 
24,  1898,  received  a  prompt  and  generous  response  in  our  city,  nearly  five  hundred  men 
offering  their  services  to  the  country.  Already  the  ladies  of  Lowell  were  alive  to  the 
necessity  that  war  obligations  would  entail ;  and  a  committee  was  formed,  consisting  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  Nesmith,  chairman,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Allen,  wife  of  the  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Mrs.  James  W.  Bennett,  wife  of  the  mayor,  and  representatives  from  several 


52  The  LowcU  Book 

women's  organizations.  The  work  of  this  committee  culminated  in  a  great  fete,  June  30, 
at  the  grounds  of  the  late  General  Butler.  Two  hundred  women  assisted,  and  so 
successful  were  their  efforts  that  $2,300  was  netted  in  one  evening's  entertainment, — 
a  sum  which  doubled  in  value,  when  we  recall  the  uses  to  which  it  was  put:  5 1,400  was 
expended  for  a  steam  launch  for  the  hospital  ship  "Bay  State";  $150  for  hospital 
necessities  at  Fort  Myer,  where  many  Massachusetts  men  were  ill ;  $100  was  sent  to  the 
National  Relief,  for  supplies  for  the  naval  hospital  ship  "  Solace "  ;  cases  of  supplies, 
such  as  sheets,  pajamas,  articles  of  food,  etc.,  were  sent  to  the  camps ;  and  the  balance 
of  the  money,  $630,  was  given  to  the  Lowell  branch  of  the  Massachusetts  Volunteer 
Aid  Association,  then  in  existence. 

On  June  17,  1898,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Molly  Varnum  Chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  a  committee 
was  appointed,  with  Mrs.  H.  M.  Thompson  as  chairman,  to  form  a  branch  of  the 
Massachusetts  Volunteer  Aid  Association,  and  $f,0  was  appropriated  with  which  to  begin 
work.  On  a  plan  suggested  by  Mrs.  Adelbert  Ames  an  organization  was  effected  on 
June  22,  1898,  which  was  continued  throughout  the  war.  The  officers  of  this  organiza- 
tion were  :  president,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Allen,  who  resigned  in  October,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mrs.  H.  M.  Thompson ;  secretary,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Judkins ;  treasurer,  Mrs. 
W.  S.  Lamson.  The  towns  of  Chelmsford,  Dracut,  Tyngsboro,  and  Tewksbury  had  their 
representatives  on  the  working  list,  and  each  ward  had  its  chairman.  Almost  daily  meet- 
ings were  held  at  the  rooms  of  the  Ministry-at-Large,  a  place  which  has  endeared  itself  to 
all  our  citizens,  not  only  for  its  own  works  of  charity  and  benevolence,  but  also  as  the 
meeting  place  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  in  Lowell  during  the  Civil  War.  During  July, 
August,  and  September  the  ladies  of  the  committee  worked  untiringly.  Some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  their  work  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  list  taken  from  the  reports. 

Money  solicited,  $1,871.46;  sent  to  headquarters  of  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Aid 
Association,  over  4,000  articles  of  clothing  and  bedding,  800  cases  of  different  kinds  of 
goods,  450  pints  of  home-made  jelly,  preserves,  etc.,  besides  stationery,  books,  papers, 
needles,  thread,  tobacco,  toilet  articles,  etc. 

As  the  sick  soldiers  began  to  return  in  September,  the  work  of  the  Association 
assumed  a  different  aspect.  A  medical  corps  was  formed,  fifty-three  physicians  volun- 
teering their  services  to  the  society  for  the  care  of  those  disabled  soldiers  needing  assist- 
ance. Medicines,  food,  and  clothing  were  also  furnished  the  soldiers,  when  needed.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  were  thus  aided,  many  going  to  our  hospitals,  which  had  also 
volunteered  their  facilities.  There  were  seventy  cases  of  fever,  and  many  serious  cases 
of  a  similar  nature ;  and  that  there  was  but  one  death  is  high  praise  for  the  skill  and 
efficiency  of  our  physicians.  Later  in  the  year  a  labor  bureau  was  formed  to  assist  the 
returned  soldiers  in  getting  work.  The  whole  work  of  this  society  has  won  the  highest 
praise  from  all  parts  of  the  State ;  and  it  can  be  truly  said  that  for  prudence,  economy, 
and  efficiency  it  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  excelled. 

Another  organization  which  did  excellent  work  for  the  families  of  the  soldiers  was 
composed  of  citizens,  with  Mayor  James  W.  Bennett  as  chairman  and  J.  L.  Chalifoux, 
treasurer.  This  committee  collected  and  distributed  $4,415.73,  sent  supplies  to  the  men 
in  camps,  and  in  many  ways  did  acts  of  benevolence  in  behalf  of  those  left  unprovided 
for  during  the  war. 

Let  the  sons  and  daughters  of  our  city  learn  well  the  deeds  of  patriotism  of  their 

predecessors,  for  nowhere  will   a  brighter  or   nobler   record  be   found   of  work   "well 

done." 

Thomas  F.  Harringto.v,  M.D. 


THE  STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL  IN  LOWELL. 


i 


HE   State  Normal    School  building  at   Lowell   is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
structures  in  the  Commonwealth.     It  is  built  of  gray  brick  and  limestone, 
overlooking  on  one  side  the  city  and  on  the  other  the  Merrimack  valley; 
while  its  systems  of  heat,  light,  and  ventilation,  are  so  carefully  constructed 
that  not  even  the  most  hygienic  parent  can  find  cause  for  complaint. 

The  school  opened  October  4,  1897,  but  was  not  formally  dedicated  until  June,  1898, 
when  both  the  interior  and  exterior  of  the  building  were  completed.  Mr.  Frank  F. 
Coburn,  formerly  master  of  the  Lowell  High  School,  was  elected  by  the  State  Board  of 
Education  as  principal  of  this  new  State  Normal  School.  Equally  fortunate  with  this 
appointment  have  been  those  of  the  various  members  of  the  Faculty, —  Hugh  J.  Molloy, 
Lyman  C.  Newell,  Walter  J.  Kenyon,  Miss  Mabel  Hill,  Miss  Laura  A.  Knott,  Miss  Anna 
W.  Devereaux,  Miss  Grace  D.  Chester,  Mrs.  Adelia  M.  Parker,  Miss  Vesta  H.  Sawtelle, 
and  Miss  Alma  E.  Hurd. 

The  work  of  the  school  is  necessarily  on  the  same  lines  with  that  of  the  other  State 
Normal  Schools ;  but  through  the  generous  agreement  of  the  city  of  Lowell  twelve  rooms 
for  grammar  work,  three  for  primary,  and  twelve  for  kindergarten,  have  been  assigned 
for  the  Model  and  Practice  School  in  connection  with  the  normal  training  department. 
Mr.  Cyrus  A.  Durgin,  the  principal  of  the  Model  School,  is  ably  seconded  in  his  efforts 
by  a  large  number  of  lady  teachers. 

Pupil  teachers  early  begin  their  observation  work,  reserving  their  practice  work  until 
their  second  year.  Each  room  is  in  charge  of  a  regular  teacher,  nominated  by  Mr. 
Coburn  and  elected  by  the  City  School  Committee,  State  and  city  forces  working 
harmoniously  together.  The  "  critic-teacher,  "  as  well  as  the  "  room-teacher, "  supervises 
the  work  of  the  practice  pupils,  each  normal  teacher  spending  one  day  every  week  in 
the  Model  School.  This  constant  interchange  of  teachers  and  pupils  has  proved  stimulat- 
ing and  helpful,  and  in  some  degree  is  peculiar  to  Lowell.  Kindergarten  training  is 
under  the  special  care  of  Miss  Devereaux,  large  opportunities  for  both  observation  and 
practice  being  liberally  provided  by  the  city  in  its  many  kindergartens. 

Enthusiasm,  sincerity,  and  intellectual  acumen  pervade  the  Faculty  of  the  Normal 
School,  who  maintain  discipline  through  friendliness.  The  pupils  are  led  to  estimate  the 
value  of  education  by  its  intrinsic  worth  rather  than  by  its  opportunities  for  self-support. 
Ambition  is  aroused  to  make  the  most  of  one's  self  for  the  sake  of  others,  humility  is 
guarded  from  depression,  and  competitive  zeal  is  deemed  important  only  as  it  awakens 
energy.  Among  the  many  institutions  and  schools  which  add  to  the  city's  worth  there 
is  none  that  is  working  with  a  more  single-hearted  purpose  for  the  good  of  all  than  the 
Lowell  State  Normal  School. 

Kate  Gannett  Wells. 


THE  LOWELL  TEXTILE  SCHOOL. 


T^glff;^  HIS  school  is  "  for  instruction  in  the  theory  and  practical  art  of  textile  and 
jw/^y^^  kindred  branches  of  industry."  It  is  managed  by  a  corporation  styled  the 
M^2^jtt'  "Trustees  of  the  Lowell  Textile  School,"  composed  of  twenty  permanent 
2^ss!U  trustees,  two  appointed  by  the  governor  for  four-year  terms,  on  the  part  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  mayor  and  superintendent  of  schools  of  the 
city  of  Lowell.  Through  their  officers  —  president,  clerk,  and  treasurer  —  and  sub-com- 
mittees for  each  department,  they  keep  directly  in  touch  with  the  school.  The  principal 
of  the  school  is  William  W.  Crosby,  S.B.,  a  graduate  of  and  late  instructor  in  mechanics 
at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  He  is  assisted  by  nine  chief  department 
instructors,  who  each  have  a  staff  of  assistants. 

The  Cotton  Department  includes  yarn-making  from  cotton  in  the  seed  to  the  finished 
product ;  the  Woollen  and  Worsted  Department,  both  woollen  and  worsted  yarns ;  the 
Weaving  Department,  the  making  of  cloth  up  to  the  finest  and  most  varied  fabric. 

The  Department  of  Design  embraces  original,  combined,  and  applied  design  in  weave 
and  color  and  cloth  analysis.  Decorative  Art  includes  historic  ornament,  conventional- 
izing of  plant  and  other  nature  forms,  color,  etc.,  with  special  reference  to  application  in 
textile  design. 

The  Department  of  Mechanics,  directly  in  charge  of  the  principal,  deals  with  ele- 
ments and  principles  applicable  to  textile  machinery  and  the  general  equipment  of  mills 
and  shops.  Such  knowledge  of  mathematics  as  is  required  in  yarn  and  weaving  "  calcula- 
tions "  is  furnished  by  the  instructors  in  mathematics. 

Dyeing  is  exhaustive  in  its  demands  on  chemistry ;  and,  therefore,  a  thorough  course 
in  general  chemistry  is  provided.  The  chief  and  three  assistants  of  this  department  are 
graduates  in  chemistry  of  scientific  institutions  of  the  highest  class.  Instruction  in  com- 
mercial languages  is  by  "native"  teachers. 

In  textiles  we  advance  or  recede.  We  cannot  stand  still.  And,  as  we  advance,  we 
must  continue  to  go  abroad  for  experts  and  skilled  labor  in  higher  lines  or  educate  our 
own  people.  The  Lowell  Textile  School  is  established  for  the  latter  purpose.  It  means 
higher  skill,  higher  wages,  higher  citizenship. 

While  an  excellent  textile  school  is  maintained  at  Philadelphia  as  a  department  of  an 
Industrial  Art  Institute,  the  Lowell  Textile  School  is  at  present  the  only  educational 
institution  on  this  continent  devoted  exclusively  to  textile  education.  As  the  pioneers  in 
this  field,  the  trustees  were  called  to  meet  a  demand  for  education  in  all  textile  processes 
in  the  manufacture  of  all  commercial  fibres.  They,  therefore,  laid  broad  and  deep  the 
foundation  of  what  is  substantially  a  Massachusetts  or  New  England  Textile  Institute 
rather  than  a  local  Lowell  school ;  and  on  such  lines  the  institution  is  developing. 

James  T.  Smith. 

Note. —  Since  this  article  went  to  press  a  Textile  School  has  been  opened  in  Cotton 
at  New  Bedford,  Mass. 


THE 

COUNTRY 

CLUB 


A' 


ffthr!! 


V'E5PER  ROAT  CLUB  riOUSE 


THE  LOWELL  BOARD  OF  TRADE  AND  ITS  WORK. 


HE  Lowell  Board  of  Trade  was  organized  ia  1887  for  the  purpose  of  placing 
before  capital  and  labor  the  natural  advantages  of  our  city  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  and,  indirectly,  to  assist  in  securing  the  proper  administration  of 
public  affairs ;  and  we  know  that  much  good  has  been  accomplished  as  it  has 
been  the  medium  whereby  our  industries  and  their  products  have  been  shown  to  repre- 
sentatives from  foreign  markets,  as  well  as  to  large  purchasers  of  textile  fabrics  from 
various  sections  of  our  country. 

The  present  City  Charter,  to  a  large  extent,  was  the  result  of  the  Lowell  Board  of 
Trade  work ;  and  the  charter,  as  a  whole,  has  received  the  indorsement  of  the  executive 
heads  of  our  large  mercantile,  manufacturing  and  financial  institutions,  who  are  rapidly 
becoming  imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  affairs  of  our  municipalities  can  and  should  be 
conducted  in  practically  the  same  manner  as  a  business  corporation. 

This  commercial  organization  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Trade  organized  in  1890,  and  through  this  membership  it  has  co-operated 
with  other  business  associations  in  a  work  to  prevent  unwise,  and  secure  State  and 
national  legislation  beneficial  to  industrial  communities  like  the  city  of  Lowell, —  a  work 
more  vital  for  the  public  welfare  than  standing  before  the  treasury  doors  of  a  Common- 
wealth after  laws  have  been  enacted. 

The  Lowell  Board  of  Trade  is  represented  upon  the  Advisory  Council  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Commercial  Museum,  an  institution  that  has  achieved  a  world-wide  reputation, 
and  is  accomplishing  magnificent  results  in  securing  foreign  markets  for  our  surplus  man- 
ufactured products,  by  placing  before  our  manufacturers  the  latest  information  regarding 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  other  nations  as  well  as  the  best  methods  to  meet  foreign  com- 
petition;  and  by  this  membership  Lowell  manufacturers,  if  they  so  desire,  can  be  thor- 
oughly informed  regarding  the  progress  of  the  entire  industrial  world. 

England  and  Germany  have,  through  the  influence  of  their  commercial  bodies,  ad- 
vanced these  countries  to  the  highest  place  of  mercantile  success  ;  and,  while  our  national 
prosperity  seems  almost  phenomenal,  yet  much  can  be  learned  from  the  nations  men- 
tioned in  the  art  of  utilizing  a  concentration  of  interests,  in  a  manner  that  shall  place  the 
United  States  in  an  advanced  position  of  industrial  and  financial  importance. 

The  various  foreign  secular  guilds  and  federations  of  business  men  are  making 
strenuous  efforts  to  secure  a  fine  representation  of  industrial  products  at  the  Paris  Exposi- 
tion in  1900,  where  they  will  be  seen  by  purchasers  representing  the  markets  of  the  entire 
civilized  world  ;  and  our  boards  of  trade  can  certainly  emphasize  their  usefulness  by  as- 
sisting the  Paris  Commission  representing  the  different  States  in  this  country,  in  making 
our  National  Exhibit  at  that  great  Exposition  one  that  not  only  will  be  a  credit  to  the 
nation,  but  will  result  in  a  great  financial  benefit  to  us  as  a  people. 

The  commercial  future  of  Massachusetts  depends  upon  the  concerted  action  of  her 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  and  there  are  indications  that  our  business  men  are  begin- 
ning to  appreciate  such  an  influence.  Standing  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new  century, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Old  Bay  State  will  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past, 
retain  her  advanced  position  in  the  industrial  history  of  a  nation  whose  progress  has  been 

the  most  rapid  and  successful  ever  known. 

Charles  E.  Apams. 


EDITORIAL. 


tJISTORIC  distinction,  both  achieved  and 
inherited,  is  the  proud  possession  of  the 
city  of  Lowell.  Length  of  days  Lowell  can- 
not boast ;  but  a  career  rich  in  deeds  that  have 
blessed  humanity  has  made  her  in  truth  the 
"  handmaid  of  human  good,"  and  has  con- 
ferred upon  her  enduring  honor.  While  still 
in  her  youth,  the  fame  of  her  industries  had 
spread  beyond  the  seas.  Religious,  educa- 
tional, and  benevolent  institutions  have  kept 
pace  with  her  financial  ability  to  support  them. 
A  national  recognition  rewarded  the  signal 
heroism  of  her  sons  and  the  resourceful  pa- 
triotism of  her  daughters  during  the  period 
of  the  Civil  War.  The  roll  of  those  who  have 
rendered  loyal  service  within  her  borders  is 
long  and  honorable,  and  faithfulness  has 
characterized  her  representatives  in  the  halls 
of  the  Commonwealth  and  of  the  nation. 
Two  of  her  citizens,  Benjamin  F.  Butler  and 
Frederic  T.  Greenhalge,  have  been  Governors 
of  Massachusetts  ;  and  two  others  have  been 
Lieutenant  Governors, —  Elisha  Huntington, 
M.D.,  and  John  Nesmith.  Gustavus  V.  Fox 
was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln  Assist- 
ant Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  and  the  same 
office  is  filled  at  the  present  time  by  another 
citizen  of  Lowell,  —  Charles  H.  Allen.  Will- 
iam A.  Richardson,  at  one  time  a  Lowell 
resident,  was  for  a  period  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  during  the  administration  of  Ulysses 
S.  Grant.  These  and  many  others  Lowell 
delights  to  recall, —  men  whose  records  reflect 
honor  upon  her  and  upon  themselves. 


A  S  the  daughter  of  Chelmsford,  and  as  the 
spreading  of  her  domain  has  included 
sections  of  other  adjoining  towns,  Lowell  in- 
herits historic  associations,  embracing  colo- 
nial and  Revolutionary  times  and  deeds.  The 
scene  of  peril  from  savage  warfare,  the  Indian's 
fort,  the  white  man's  garrison  house,  the  scat- 
tered homes  of  the  colonists  and  the  circui- 
tous foot-paths  connecting  them, —  all  existed 
within   the    limits  of    the    Lowell  of    to-day. 


And  within  these  limits  arose  the  spirit  of 
rebellion  against  British  oppression,  and  the 
unwavering  belief  in  the  right  of  the  people 
to  be  free.  To  the  greatest  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  country  —  the  victorious  issue 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  —  the 
ancestors  of  the  Lowell  of  to-day  contributed 
with  steadfast  valor.  Gratefully  have  their 
descendants  received  their  bequest  and  de- 
fended it,  and  now  hold  it  in  trust  for  future 
generations.  Surely  the  continuity  of  noble 
deeds  attending  the  development  of  this  com- 
munity, admits  of  the  high  interpretation  in- 
cluded in  that  august  definition  of  history  as 
"the  standing  forth  of  God." 


'  I  TRADITION  says  that  once  upon  a  time, 
in  Lowell's  e?rly  days,  the  British  flag 
was  unfurled  from  the  tower  of  St.  Anne's, 
but  adds  that  it  was  promptly  hauled  down. 
The  course  of  Lowell's  history  is  frequently 
interrupted  by  some  anecdotal  fragment,  touch- 
ing with  living  interest  the  chronicle  as  a 
whole.  That  the  boys  and  girls  of  Lowell 
should  be  instructed  in  the  history  of  their 
own  city  has  not  been  thought  essential  in  the 
past,  but  there  are  now  indications  that  this 
state  of  things  is  about  to  pass  away.  If  the 
"Lowell  Book"  shall  arouse  interest  in  the 
city's  history,  and  suggest  that  there  may  be 
much  to  repay  the  study  of  it,  the  book  will 
have  justified  its  being. 

'T*HE  committee  on  the  "Lowell  Book" 
were  appointed  from  the  First  Unitarian 
Church,  and  were  :  Ella  P.  Judkins,  chairman, 
Caroline  A.  Richardson,  Adelaide  Baker,  Sara 
S.  Griffin,  Caroline  H.  Marsh,  Katherine 
Burrage.  They  desire  to  express  their  sin- 
cere appreciation  of  the  generous  assistance 
received,  and  gladly  acknowledge  that  what- 
ever success  may  be  achieved  has  been  made 
possible  through  the  interested  co-operation 
of  many  individuals. 


The  Lowell  Book 


FRED.  C.  CHURCH 

Insurance 

53  Central  Street 

central  block 

FREDERICK    LAWTON 

Attorney  at  Law 
No.  71    Central  Street 

H.  C.  Cooper                                                            C.  E.  Bartlett 

ADAMS   &    COMPANY 

Furniture,  Carpeting, 

AND  Upholstery  Goods 

Appleton   Block,  Central  Street 

Lowell,  Mass. 

Talbot  Dyewood  and 

Chemical  Company 

38  to  44  Middle  Street 

DON'T    WORRY 

About  a  suspicious  cough  or  an  obstinate  cold 
FOR  FIFTY  YEARS 

Father   John's    Medicine 

Has  never  failed  to  cure 

CARLETON    &    HOVEY 
Merrimack,  corner  Shattuck  Street 

AMMONIA 
GLYCERINE 
VASELINE  and 

Chemicals  used  in  the  household 

BOUTWELL    BROTHERS 

HEALERS    IN 

Iron,  Steel,  Heavy  Hardware,  and 
Carriage  Wood-work 

Shattuck.  Street,  Lowell 
8  Oliver  Street,  Boston 

Wm.  E.  T/ivingston 

dealer  in 

Coal,    Wood,    Lime,    Cement 

Bostwick  Metal  Lathing,  Adamant  Wall  Plaster 

Sand,  Gravel,  Hair,  Kaolin,  Plaster 

Mortar  Color,  Bricks,  Straw,  Flue  Lining 

Salt,  Charcoal,  Baled  Shavings 

Hay,  Grain,  Flour,  Fertilizers,  etc. 

Number     Fifteen    Thorndike     Street 
Lowell,  Mass. 

The    United    States   Mailing 
Case    Company 

Factory,  281  Thorndike  Street,  Lowell 

Manufacturers  of 

MAILING   CASES    FOR    LiaUIDS 

And  Dealers   in  Bottles 

Wm.  a.  Lamson,  President        Wm.  S.  Lamson,  Treasurer 

VI 


The  Lowell  Book 


American  Mason  Safety  Thread  Co. 

BOSTON,  MASS. 
Factory,  Perry  Street,  Lowell. 


MANUFACTURES  NON-SLIPPING  METAL  TREADS 
FOR  STAIRS  IN  PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  BUILDINGS, 
SHIP  LADDERS,  SIDEWALK  LIGHTS,  CAR  AND 
WAGON    STEPS. 


W.  S.  Lamson,  President 
H.  C.  King,  Treasurer 


LOWELL    GAS-LIGHT   COMPANY 
Office,    Shattuck   Street 

Price  of  gas,  with  the  discount 
off  for  prompt  payment, 

ONE    DOLLAR    PER   THOUSAND    FEET 


E.  H.  PACKER,  M.D. 

Savings  Bank  Building,  Shattuck  Street 
Lowell,  Mass. 

Otfice  Hours  :   9  to  10  A.  m.,  2.  30  to  4  and  7  to  9  p.m. 
Sundays,  5  to  4  p.m.      Closed  Wednesday  evenings. 


And  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torment  caused  by  the  importunities 
ot  the  church  advertising  fiend 

D.   L.   PAGE   CO. 


GEORGE    E.  STANLEY 

General  Freight  Forwarder 
LOWELL,  MASS. 


Connected  with  all  railroads 
in  Lowell 


Office,  12  Thorndike  Street 
Telephone 


INTEREST 

Paid  oil  deposit  subject  to  check  at  the 

Middlesex  Safe  Deposit 
and  Trust  Co. 

Merrimack  Street,  corner  of  Palmer 

STEEL    BOXES 

With  private  keys  and   perfect  accommodations 
in  the  only  FIREPROOF  building  in  Lowell 


Come  and  examine.  Seeing  is  believing.  No  trouble 
to  show  goods.  We  refer  to  the  Unitarian  Society, 
who  use  our  vaults. 


Compliments  of 

LEIGHTON    BROTHERS 


The  Lowell  Book 


Vll 


Frederic    A.   Fisher 

LAWYER 

No.  71    Central  Street 

Lowell,  Mass. 


Compliments  of 

Dr.  J.  V.   MEIGS 


Frank  E.  Dunbar 

LAWYER 

HiLDRETH    Building 

Lowell,  Mass. 


George  F.  Richards 
George  R.  Richards 
Daniel  M.  Richards 

COUNSELLORS  AT  LAW 

103   Central  Street 


Established  1831 


HARRY    RAYNES 


Diamonds 
Watches 
Silverware 
Optical  Goods 


J 


eweller 


6()  Central  St. 

Lowell,  Mass. 


Repairing  a  specialty 


NEW    ENGLAND    BUNTING 
COMPANY 

Lowell,  Massachusetts 


C.  F.  KEYES,  Auctioneer 

Boston  &  Maine  Depot    .     .      .     Green  Street 

Telephone  679—3 

Sale  every  Saturday  at  10  a.m. 

Special  attention  to  Real  Estate 


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C.  H.  Kimball,  dealer  i 


N 


Ready-made  Clothing 
Furnishing  Goods,  etc. 

No.   119  Central  Street,  Old  No.  2  Canal  Block 
LOWELL,   MASS. 


Special  attention  given  to  furnishing  Military 
and  Band  Uniforms,  Society  Regalia,  etc. 


The  Lowell  Book 


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Thomas   H.  Lawler 

BOOKS 

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TYPEWRITERS 

GLOBE    CABINET    FILES 

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15  and  21  John  Street  j  ^ 

Printing  Plant,       1  ^  ,     , 
68PrescottStreet|^^^^P^""" 

LOWELL,  MASS. 


1851. 


[899. 


Boston 

Young   Men's 

Christian 

Union, 

48  BoYLSTON  Street 

(neau  tremont). 

EveningClasses 

Weekly 

Entertainments. 

Employment  Bureau. 

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Public 
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LIBRARY   OVER    15,000  VOLUMES. 


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exercise. 

Wm.  H.  Baldwin,  President.  George  Peirce,  Secretary. 


The  Lowell  Book 


This  book  was  designed 
and  printed  by 

GEO.  H.  ELLIS 

No.  272  Congress  Street 
Boston 


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^he  Christian  Register 

FOUNDED  IN    1821 

George   Batchelor,  Editor 

As  a  religious  family  newspaper.  The  Christian 
Register  aims  to  assist  the  Unitarian  Church  in  ren- 
dering to  the  public  the  highest  possible  service  by 
presenting  and  illustrating  living  truths  capable  of  im- 
mediate application  in  the  lives  ot"  all  sorts  and  condi- 
tions of  men.  While  it  deals  with  public  affairs  and 
current  events,  with  science  and  literature  and  art,  its 
main  purpose  always  is  to  enlighten,  to  comfort,  and 
to  strengthen. 


Sample  copies  sent  free  on  application 


Published  at  $2.00  per  year  by 

Cbc  Christian  Register  Hssociation 

272  Congress  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 


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The  Lowell  Book 


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The  Lowell  Book 


rese:rved 


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